


When Diplomacy Ends, War Begins

by OhHamilton



Series: The Benevolent Overlord [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Forced Bonding, Harry is Lord Black, Harry is Lord Potter, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, but not really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-11-22
Packaged: 2020-11-08 17:27:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 33,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20839277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OhHamilton/pseuds/OhHamilton
Summary: Part four of the Benevolent Overlord Series. The summer before Harry's Seventh Year at Hogwarts things change drastically. Voldemort has been dead for over a year and Dumbledore is taking control of the Wizarding World, actively moulding it in his image. How will Harry and Severus cope?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the next installment, things really pick up speed in this part, I hope you all enjoy it!
> 
> I am totally chuffed I found the Galleon symbol XD

* * *

“Greetings Hogrod, may your enemies cower at your feet.” Harry bowed slightly to the goblin across from him. Turns out the Wizarding Traditions class was extremely useful.

“Greetings Heir Potter, may your gold ever flow.” Came the surprised reply. “What brings you to my office so soon in the summer holidays?”

“I have no intention of returning to my relatives this summer.” Harry settled himself in the chair across from the large desk. “I was wondering if I could access any of the properties I am entitled to or whether I would need to stay in a hotel until I turn seventeen. I assume I would have access to them following my birthday this summer.”

“Unfortunately, Heir Potter, you are not able to access any of the properties until you are seventeen. The charter for all of your houses was quite specific on that matter. Irrespective of the fact you are the last of the line for five of the six, you are not permitted to access your accounts, properties or heirlooms until your majority.”

Harry couldn’t help but slump in disappointment, he had so hoped to be able to stay in somewhere he could call home for the summer.

Hogrob bared his teeth in a mockery of a grin. "I can recommend a local hotel which is partially magical so that you do not need to concern yourself with having to exchange funds or breaking the Statute of Secrecy.”

When Harry moved to question the goblin at the wisdom of him staying in a wizarding hotel, the goblin cut him off.

“Do not worry Heir Potter. I am not referring to The Leaky Cauldron and can assure you the hotel is very discreet. I request that you return here on your birthday so that we may discuss your Lordships. Until then, I am unable to share any further information with you beyond your account statements for the six trust funds you are entitled to.”

The goblin pushed a sheaf of parchment across the desk and Harry picked it up to see the first six pages summarised his account balances and withdrawals over the past quarter, which were nil. 

Black Trust Fund Balance - ʛ 11,259.67

Gaunt Trust Fund Balance - ʛ 200.00

Peverell Trust Fund Balance - ʛ 50,476.12

Gryffindor Trust Fund Balance - ʛ 20,573.89

Slytherin Trust Fund Balance - ʛ 15,489.78

Potter Trust Fund Balance - ʛ 2,365.23

The seventh had directions and details on the recommended hotel.

“Last summer, you claimed your Heirship rings, and commented that the Gaunt magic seemed mad. I have investigated this and can confirm the reason; we completed investigations into the family line and have found the source of madness. The Dark Lord known as Voldemort was the last of the Gaunt line, his mother, Merope Gaunt, dosed a local muggle noble with Amortentia and fell pregnant. The local noble, Tom Riddle, refused to remain with the witch when she stopped dosing him and broken-hearted, she died during childbirth.” Hogrod glanced up from the papers he was reading off to ensure Harry was listening.

“The Gaunt’s had a tendency towards incest which surpassed even the most purist of the Black’s. They tended to marry their siblings instead of sticking to the safer second cousins. As such, the Gaunt line had already descended into madness which is one of the magical side effects of incestuous relationships. This madness, while tempered by the introduction of muggle blood, was still prevalent in the child; Tom Riddle Jr.”

Hogrod sighed, setting the papers aside and looking at Harry over steepled fingers. “What you described is incredibly rare, it is uncommon for someone to gain access to family magic who is not from the family. This is why the magic seemed so mad and wild to you. We can only hope that the time you have spent interacting with and using the family magic has managed to temper it. Irrespective, when you begin having children, you should give the Gaunt line to your most magically strong offspring to ensure they have the strength to manage the unruly family line.”

Harry nodded and swallowed heavily. It was an explanation, which was nice to have, but it was just a little unbelievable to realise just how sentient magic was. The Wizarding Traditions had spoken of Lady Magic as if she was an entity, but Harry had thought it was just a euphemism. He was beginning to realise that Lady Magic was an entity with a certain degree of sentience. He shivered at the thought.

With the traditional salutation given, Harry departed, sheaves of parchment in hand and trying hard not to gape at the amount of money in his trust funds.

* * *

Harry gazed around his room in wonder. Checking in had been surprisingly easy, the parchment had directed him to exit onto Charing Cross road outside the Leaky, wandering down the road a little, he came to St Martins Lane Hotel. Moving to the far most corner of the concierge desk, he flashed his Heir ring and within minutes he had checked into a mid-level room, using his ring to pay. No mess, no fuss, the concierge didn’t even bat an eye at who he was, much to his relief. He would have to remember this place if he ever needed to stay somewhere again.

The room was luxurious, an odd combination of old-fashioned furniture with modern fixtures. There was something elegant and comfortable about it. Wandering through the generous master suite, he paused to admire the beautiful view of the city before moving to the bathroom. There was a massive tub and a large shower stall, everything was new and clean and lovely. Stripping off, Harry hurried to run himself a bath. The last time he had had an opportunity to have a proper bath had been during fourth year. While he didn’t normally like water, the idea of a long hot soak in the tub appealed to him.

As he settled into the hot water, emotion crashed into him. For the first time in his life, he was alone, unwatched, unmonitored. It was… overwhelming to say the least. He was completely operating under his own steam. The only person who knew where he was, was Hogrod and the concierge who had promised would be discreet. Harry allowed his body to relax, sinking deep into the water as a storm washed over him.

* * *

He slept deeply and long the first night, ordering in room service and sitting out on the balcony as he drank his tea. There was something soothing about watching the world go by as he stood still. Rarely if ever was he permitted such an experience. There was always something happening, something coming, someone wanting something.

Harry knew that soon, someone would come looking for him, he assumed they thought he would willingly return to the Dursleys one last time and once they realised he hadn’t, he was sure all hell would break loose. Irrespective, it didn’t matter anymore, Riddle was gone, his Death Eaters had been taken down or captured. There was no longer a threat to his life or safety so what he did should be irrelevant. Unfortunately, he knew Dumbledore, knew that the man would never let him slip from his control. Part of his mind worried over what would happen next, instead he forced himself to focus on what he could do.

With a grin, he emptied his trunk, astonished by the number of books he had managed to accumulate. He set them all to the side with the intent of sorting them when he had a lazy few hours and the will to organise. Rifling through his clothes he realised he would need to buy another new wardrobe, everything had been growing too short and too tight. Hopefully, that would continue to happen over the year, especially with him not returning to the Dursleys and undoing all of his hard work. He wondered if the hotel had a gym he could use while he was here.

His potions stores were getting alarmingly low, making a mental note to venture into the Alley to replenish his stocks. He was also almost out of parchment, most of his quills broken and inks only a dribble in the bottom of glass jars.

He relished in having the time and space to do something as simple as cleaning out his trunk. Harry almost laughed at himself, he was finding pleasure is such silly simple things, his peers would surely laugh at him.

* * *

It was barely two days into the school holidays. Severus had just settled back into Prince Manor for the summer when he felt the wards ping on Spinners End. Groaning, he dragged himself up from his comfortable chair, setting aside his potions journal and threw on his robes. Stepping through the floo, he cast a cursory cleaning charm over the sitting room to remove the layer of dust and moved to answer the door.

Twisting his face into an irritated sneer did not take any effort what so ever as he wanked the front door open, the timber sticking in the frame. He tempered the expression when he saw who was waiting for him.

“Dumbledore, how may I assist you?” His tone was just on the safe side of respectful.

“Ah Severus, my boy, I was growing worried you weren’t at home.” The older man stepped forward, forcing his way into the room.

“I have only just returned from Hogwarts and was in the process of attempting to clean.” Severus replied, caution thrumming through him.

“Of course, of course. Well, I won’t take up too much of your time, I am sure you have brewing to get to.” Dumbledore bounced on the toes of his feet, his gaudy purple and gold robes swirling around his legs.

“Thank you,” Severus replied begrudgingly, “Was there something I could assist you with?”

“Yes, my boy, I was hoping you could brew a batch of Amortentia. I have someone who is trying to make adjustments to the potion, but we need the original brewed perfectly, to work with.” Dumbledore smiled genially at him.

Severus felt his blood turn to ice. That was a massive crock of shit if he had ever heard one. If they were unable to brew the original potion, they didn’t have the skills to change it. His mind raced as he tried to imagine what Dumbledore would want with Amortentia. The potion was not illegal, just socially frowned upon.

“Albus!” He exclaimed, “You know how I feel about love potions, I am unwilling to change my position at this time.” Severus knew he had to protest; he had protested every other time he had been asked to brew this particular potion.

The smile slipped from Dumbledore’s face, expression hardening. “Severus, I am not asking you to do anything illegal, as you well know. It is a potion that I require, and you will brew it. I would so hate for the Wizengamot to hear of some of your more illicit activities over the years.”

Severus sneered, opening his mouth to protest further, but Dumbledore interrupted him before he could.

“Soliciting sex for money is quite illegal my boy.” The words cut through the still morning.

Severus stiffened. “It will take me a few days to brew a batch.”

The smile immediately returned, Dumbledore clapping happily. “Excellent, I will return in two days to collect it.”

The man departed quickly, apparating from his front stoop with a crack. Severus sank down into the dilapidated armchair by the cold fireplace.

This was not good.

* * *

The days slipped by for Harry and he found a way to fill them, reading over books that he hadn’t had the chance to, cleaning out his things, exercising, eating and sleeping. He made frequent use of the bath and discovered there was a gym in the building. 

After the first week he ventured into muggle London, the concierge directed him to the nearest H&M and other popular shopping spots so that he could load up on anything and everything. Thankfully, the concierge was happy to exchange his galleons for pounds. Harry knew he would have to go back to Gringotts soon but wanted to put off venturing into the magical world as long as possible. The chances of someone seeing him and asking questions were high.

As he wandered through H&M, Harry was approached by one of the male staff. He was cute and young with soft brown hair and dark brown eyes.

“Hey there, do you need a hand with anything?” The attendant asked.

Harry flushed a little. “Do I look that lost?”

The other boy chuckled. “Nah, it’s not so bad. I’m happy to help though?”

Harry looked away, fingering a jacket that hung on a rack next to him. “Well, I came into a little money and never had much of a chance to buy clothes for myself before. I wanted to get a new wardrobe but wasn’t sure where to start.” He glanced up through his lashes, watching as the attendant simultaneously lit up and melted.

“You’ve come to the right place then! And you don’t want that,” he gestured to the jacket Harry was fingering. “I’m happy to help you, just trust me and try everything on before you reject any of it out of hand.” The other boy winked at him, grinning and Harry couldn’t help but flush.

The next minute, Harry was caught up in a whirl of clothes and conversation. Jackson, as he found out the attendants’ name was, was eighteen and fresh out of school. He was only too happy to help Harry and he couldn’t help but wonder if the other boy was flirting with him or whether he was just trying to convince him to buy more stuff.

Harry was a little hesitant over trying on the tight black jeans and the slightly oversized leather jacket, but when he put them on, Harry looked in the mirror and felt like a man for the first time in his life. Jackson laughed in delight when Harry stepped out to show off the outfit, gushing that he knew the perfect shoes to finish it off. Disappearing, he reappeared a moment later with some black leather boots with laces and buckles that reached up to his calf.

After a couple of hours, Harry finally left, laden down with bags and lighter a whole lot of cash. Sneaking into a nearby alley, he shrunk down the parcels and tucked them into his pockets before heading back to the hotel.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! I know some of you continue to struggle with the presence of Isaac in the story. In response, I give you this chapter. Well, really, that's not the case, but you know. 
> 
> Isaac served/serves an important purpose. Severus has been living under the pressure of being a spy for so long, he had very little opportunity for emotional growth. It is *finally* happening. Thank you for your patience (some of you :P) 
> 
> Isaac, as a character, is not hugely important, but he offers an important opportunity for growth with our boys. He will already make a reappearance at least once, I am starting to mull over the idea of bringing him back once again, but really, he is mostly a tool for Severus' growth.
> 
> The bad news I have, is that my wonderful Mother in Law suggested I storyboard my story, and so I have ended up writing a whole lot of extra content. While the extra content is nice, I now have to try and re-finish this part before I post any more chapters. There will probably end up being at least two new chapters featuring lots of good stuff. It's not filler, I promise, it's important for emotional growth of the characters! 
> 
> Anyway, enjoy this chapter, hopefully inspiration will continue to flow and I can get some more up soon.

* * *

Harry found out that there was a ton of bookstores just around the corner, some of which had little café’s attached. A couple even had wizarding corners, much to his delight. He whiled away many days drinking tea or coffee, reading and buying books. He found a love for history, reading about previous dictators and drawing uncomfortable conclusions. Hermione and Neville continued to faithfully correspond with him and while he told them that he wasn’t at his relatives, he didn’t inform them where he was. They all agreed that it was inviting trouble to actually pen his location.

The hotel got the _Prophet _daily and he had requested a copy be delivered when he ordered in breakfast. No one had noticed he was missing which he was grateful for. The articles, though, continued to be concerning. More pressure was being exerted on the dark faction. The Ministry had attempted to institute some laws to seize control of vaults belonging to dark families. The goblins refused to cooperate, accusing them of trying to break the treaty. This, thankfully, forced them to back down, at least temporarily. The Ministry didn’t particularly want to start a war with the goblins, not when they controlled the money of the wizarding world.

* * *

It was midway through the third week of July when he finally ventured into Diagon Alley. He knew that no one would expect him, but he dressed carefully, tight black jeans, black leather boots, a tight black t-shirt and a black leather jacket. Heavy black sunglasses covered his distinctive eyes. There was little he could do with his hair but had been considering growing it out in the hopes the weight would help. It was already curling against the nape of his neck.

Striding through the Leaky, he didn’t falter, ignoring anyone who looked at him. Stopping off at Flourish and Blotts, he took his time browsing, gathering together a large selection of books. Next, he stopped off at the apothecary, restocking his potions and ingredients stores. He wasn’t sure if there were any special ingredients needed for his NEWT’s year but would get anything extra after his letter arrived.

He wandered freely through the alley, stopping in at shops, investigating and relishing in the freedom afforded to him by anonymity. He got some funny looks for his obvious muggle clothes but was otherwise ignored. Venturing into Madame Malkins, he was measured up for some new wizarding clothes, leaving ordering his new school robes for later.

As he wandered, he spotted the shopfront for Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes and decided to see how the Twins were doing. He hadn’t heard from them since their abrupt departure over a year ago.

It was mid-afternoon and the place was busy, the children and teenagers everywhere. Harry couldn’t help but marvel at the selection of products the twins had made. An ache settled in his heart. He was unsure what he had done wrong but missed them fiercely. Wending his way through the shelves and cubbies, he picked up a few things that caught his eye. Harry couldn’t help but smile softly at the laughing children, the whispering teens. He felt so separate from it all, though he was barely older than some of them.

George was manning the counter; Fred was nowhere to be seen. Harry found a quiet corner near the front counter where he could watch George. The redhead served with joy and enthusiasm, chatting with every customer about their purchases, making suggestions, recommendations, relaying anecdotes about creation and use.

Time slipped away when suddenly George signalled, and a pretty young woman stepped in to take over the register. Harry was about to go and check out when he felt a hand slip into his own. Whirling around in surprise, he was confronted with a grinning Fred. He was led away, upstairs through a hidden door into what was obviously the Twins' apartment above the shop.

“Harry!” Fred cried, gathering him up into a gentle hug.

With a sigh, Harry cuddled back. He could almost feel the surprise radiating from the redhead. Harry had never responded well previously to hugs, but with his distance from physical abuse, the flinch reflex had diminished. Fred had clearly projected his intentions and his touch was gentle. They stood for a long moment, wrapped in each other’s arms before George came clattering in. Seeing the pair hugging, George demanded his own, Fred releasing Harry with a laugh so that he could be swept up by his twin.

George ushered Harry to the couch, tucking the younger against his side while Fred went to fetch a tea tray. George chatted away about their latest inventions, apparently unconcerned about smothering Harry with affection now that he was allowed to.

“So Harry, tell us what’s been happening?” Fred asked as he settled down the tray and cuddled up to Harry’s other side.

He couldn’t help but be amused and surprised by the amount of affection the twins were bestowing on him; it was a little overwhelming, to be honest.

“Not much, I’ve been studying hard, NEWT’s next year, I’m hoping to be a curse breaker when I graduate, if I can complete the accelerated programmes for Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. Business seems to be treating you both really well.”

“Yeah, it’s booming!” George began.

“We have it all thanks to you Harry-” Fred continued

“Yeah, you’re the one who believed in us,”

“Who gave us our start-up”

Harry waved it away, fixing his cup of tea. “Someone would have invested, you two are brilliant.”

He didn’t see the twins exchange a look over his head, settling back he glanced at the pair, waiting. When neither said anything, he sighed.

“You never wrote to me after you left.” Harry murmured into his teacup.

“We weren’t sure you wanted us to,” Fred replied softly.

“You didn’t really talk to us before we left.” George’s voice was just as soft.

“We figured you didn’t want to be our friend anymore.”

“You were leaving,” Harry shrugged. “Why would you care about me?”

“Oh Harry,” George sounded like his heart was breaking.

Harry blinked at him in surprise only to find the teacup tugged out of his hands just before George wrapped himself around the dark-haired youth.

“George?” He queried. Next second, Fred wrapped himself around his back so that Harry was sandwiched between the two. “Fred?”

Neither twin responded, just hugging him tightly. With a huff, Harry surrendered to the moment. Eventually, George pulled away, running his fingers through Harry’s hair to cup his jaw. Fred was still plastered to his back, chin tucked over one shoulder.

“Harry, we have always cared, when you stopped talking to us, we figured you were angry with us or something. Then, after we left, you never wrote. We weren’t sure what to do, then business took off and time just… Got away from us.” For once George said the entire phrase on his own.

“I was hurt you were leaving. You decided to leave and told everyone without telling me. I was going through a rough patch and figured you didn’t care about me anymore. You had what you needed from me and that was it.”

Harry tried to shrug, but Fred was too tightly wrapped around him. Instead of feeling confining, the embrace of the two was comforting. It was almost like he had a family.

“Harry, it was never about the money. We are sorry you felt that way, but it was never our intention. It was a spur of the moment decision; will you forgive us?” Fred murmured in his ear.

“Of course I forgive you two.” Harry smiled at George, tightening his grip on Fred’s arms that encircled his waist.

Harry and the twins chatted, catching up and a few hours slipped by before they even realised it. Harry caught them up on how he had been improving, explained a little about his abuse and his life. The twins hadn’t really known but had always suspected, and there was something cathartic about sharing with them. He was careful to avoid speaking too much about Snape, he knew he wouldn’t be able to hide his feelings for the man.

They, in turn, told him of what had been happening since their abrupt departure from Hogwarts. The twins had just finished detailing their mothers' ongoing vendetta against their business when Fred seemed to have a thought.

“Hey Harry, you haven’t mentioned anything about Ginny.”

“What do you mean? Why would I say anything about Ginny?” He replied, confused.

“Well… Aren’t you two dating?” George’s expression was cautious.

Harry spat out his mouthful of tea, staring at the two redheads in astonishment. “Ginny and I… Dating?” He repeated.

“Well yeah, she’s been going on all summer about how the two of you have been dating in secret all year. How you’ve been talking about being serious…” Fred trailed off at Harry’s mute head shake.

“I haven’t spoken to Ginny since the start of the year. I told her numerous times, in no uncertain terms, that nothing would ever happen between us.”

“That’s not what she has been saying. We’ve seen some stuff and well…” George shared a worried look with his twin.

Fred huffed. “Ginny and mum seem to be planning… Well… They seem to be planning a wedding.”

Harry’s expression turned horrified. “No. No, she must be talking about someone else. I would never marry Ginny. Not that there is anything wrong with her but well…” He paused, staring at the two men, taking a deep breath he ploughed on. “Guys, I’m gay.”

They shared a look before nodding. “We know Harry,” Fred replied.

“We figured it out a while ago…” George continued.

“Which is why we found it weird…”

“That Ginny would talk about…”

“The two of you being together.”

“We thought for a while…”

“That maybe she had potioned you…”

“But apparently not.”

Harry shook his head. “She tried, I think Molly tried too, but I am the Heir of House Potter. My Heir ring protects me.”

“Well, that’s good.” Fred nodded firmly.

“I’d be careful if I were you though.” George nudged his shoulder.

“Yeah I will be, don’t worry.” Harry finished his tea. “I should probably head off, I’ve still got stuff to do, but write to me ok? Keep in touch. If I start acting weird, do something about it yeah?”

He paused, looking between the twins. “If I’m acting weird, and you need help, Snape will help you. But you can’t tell anyone ok? No one can know that the two of us are less than enemies.”

Fred and George exchanged a surprised glance before nodding and reassuring Harry they would keep his secret. Harry left soon after, collecting his clothes from Madam Malkins and heading back to the hotel.

* * *

Severus sighed, slumped at the edge of the bed while Isaac panted behind him. They had just finished a bout of sex and Severus had barely been able to forget the churning in his gut all the while.

He had provided the Amortentia to Dumbledore as instructed, which made him want to hurl. He loathed love potions with every fibre of his being and the knowledge that he had made the blasted concoction made him sick. Unfortunately, Dumbledore had been aware for years of his tendency to find comfort with paid help.

What made it worse is as time was going by, he grew more and more hesitant with Isaac. He knew that he and Harry had agreed to see how things were once the youth had graduated, but his heart seemed determined to get away from him. Every time he touched Isaac now, he couldn’t help but see the expression on Harry’s face when he had shared the truth of the liaison. Harry had never asked him to stop, had never made him feel bad for it, but Severus knew the wound was there. Somehow, Harry had wormed his way past all of Severus’ defences and now he could barely stomach seeing Isaac. Perhaps he should end their agreement and simply suffer through the loneliness for the next year. At least he would be safe in the knowledge of Harry suffering just like him and wasn’t that another kick in the gut.

Severus had expected that Harry might have fooled around with some of his peers, do his experimentation, find stress relief through the stressful times. But there had been no indication whatsoever that Harry had sought comfort and company with another. Guilt started curdling in his gut. What he was doing was wrong and something had to give.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! Sorry for my absence! First I was stuck trying to re-finish part four, then we decided to re-do the flooring throughout the apartment which took a hideous two and a half days. Perhaps I should have agreed to pay for professionals to install it? Anyway, have a fresh chapter!

* * *

It was two days before his birthday when an owl he didn’t recognise flew in through his window. Cautiously, he opened the envelope and recognised the loopy writing.

_Harry, my boy,_

_While I am disappointed that you chose not to return to your family one final time in order to ensure the blood protections your mother put on you would be revitalised, I respect the decision you made. This is why I did not arrange to have you collected and returned to your relatives._

_I apologise for the distance that had grown between us since your fifth year. Alas, I avoided your company due to concerns over the connection you had with Voldemort. Then, once those concerns were no longer valid, I was elected Minister before we could properly reconnect._

_I am hoping that, in the spirit of the relationship we once had as a Mentor and Mentee, you will meet me on your birthday for lunch at 1 pm at the Leaky Cauldron. I will arrange with Tom for us to have a private room to discuss outstanding matters. I hope that after lunch, we can go together to visit Gringotts as there should be a few loose ends to tie up._

_Faithfully,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

Harry read through the letter a few times, a sinking feeling in his gut. Irrespective of what Dumbledore wanted, he would go to the goblins first thing on his birthday and see the old man after he had put some measures in place. He worried over what Dumbledore would want to discuss, concerned over how his life could be messed up further.

Dragging over some parchment, he drafted a reply, apologising for his wayward behaviour and assuring the old man that Harry would only be too happy to meet for lunch and would appreciate the assistance dealing with the goblins. He was delighted to discover that he could lie to his heart's content with the written word.

Next, he darted off a quick note to the twins, explaining what was going to happen and expressing concerns that Dumbledore might find a way around the protections his rings offered him. Harry suggested that should he be free of controls next time he saw them; he would ask after their shield boots and how testing was going. There was no such product, but no one else knew that.

* * *

He slept poorly that night and spent the next day packing. Harry had a sick feeling that something was going to go terribly wrong tomorrow. He finally took the time to alphabetize his books as he packed them away into his trunk.

It was lunchtime on the Thirtieth when he finished, after a meal at the restaurant, he went to the gym and exercised until he was exhausted. After a light dinner, he requested a wake-up call for 7 am the next day. He had a long hot shower, laid out a reasonable set of robes and crashed out in front of the TV.

* * *

He woke up at midnight, his magic thrumming under his skin, stretching, pulling twisting him. He was sweat-soaked and in pain that went all the way down to his centre. He could feel his magical core vibrating with energy, with life.

Sleep reclaimed him once more before he could worry too much.

* * *

The shrill sound of the phone ringing woke him the next day. After another hot shower and a light breakfast, he shrunk down his trunk and pocketed it. Harry had a feeling he wouldn’t be returning so he checked out and quietly headed to the Leaky. Sneaking through, he darted into Gringotts. Without too much hassle, he was ushered into Hogrod’s office.

“Heir Potter, may your enemies cower at your feet.” The goblin inclined his head.

“Hogrod, may your gold ever flow.” Harry replied.

“Thank you for coming today, we have much to discuss.”

“Before we begin, I will be meeting with Dumbledore for lunch, I hope to have things sorted to some degree before then. I am hoping we can keep him ignorant of my knowledge. He has suggested that we come here after lunch to ‘tie up loose ends’ as he put it.” Harry couldn’t help his lip curling in disgust.

The goblin sneered. “I am only too happy to assist. I have completed a full audit of all of your accounts and as of today, I can now discuss it with you. First, you will need to swap out your Heir rings for your Lordship rings.”

With that, the goblin handed over a box with another six rings in it. Cracking it open, it revealed rings similar to those he had put on a year ago, but they were marginally more ornate. The magic finally allowed him to slip off the two rings he was currently wearing, he saw them split apart and disappear.

With a sigh, he began the lengthy process of sliding each ring on, once again joining the Peverell, Gryffindor and Potter rings. Next, he tackled the Black and Slytherin rings, leaving Gaunt for last. Surprisingly, there was no madness in the magic, it was aggressive and a little violent, but the edge of madness had faded, he breathed a sigh of relief that by him taking on the Heir ring, he had allowed his magic and the magic of his other houses to cleanse the taint from the family.

By the time he was done, magic was sparking and skittering over his skin, making his long hair move and sway as if in a strong breeze. Sighing, Harry opened eyes he didn’t realise he had closed. Hogrod was looking slightly alarmed but slid a thick stack of files and folios across the desk.

Selecting the first off the stack, Hogrod began explaining the current position of the Peverell portfolio. The investments were old, most for failed businesses that were no longer working or outdated agreements. The properties were aged and in desperate need of inspection and either selling or fixing up.

The Gaunt portfolio was basically empty, just a few artefacts and a little gold in a small vault and a block of land with a shack on it. The family had run itself into the ground with gambling and poor investments. Hogrod suggested taking a little money from the wealthiest portfolio and transferring it across, giving the Gaunt line a bit of a kickstart so it could get flowing again. Harry agreed and they moved on.

The Slytherin and Gryffindor houses were both in a similar state to the Peverell portfolio. The interesting benefit of both was that he was a part-owner of Hogwarts and the school would respond to him once he returned.

The Potter and Black houses were both in much better condition, they had only been lying fallow less than twenty years, rather than the multiple generations for the others. With a little updating and some adjustments, they were ready to continue rolling along.

After they had finished reviewing the finances, properties and vaults, Harry set the folder aside and considered the account manager.

"Hogrod, I am concerned. I am friends with the Weasley Twins who indicated that their mother believes I will be marrying the daughter this summer. I have not, nor will I ever, have a relationship with Ginny Weasley. I am worried that when I meet with Dumbledore later, he will try and force me into marrying Ginny. I know that they have already tried potioning me, most likely a love potion, but my rings have protected me. What can be done to ensure I am not forced into a marriage I don't want?"

The goblin frowned, shuffling through a few papers. "There might be a few options. First, let’s see what paperwork we have available. Press your Lordship rings to the divot on the desk and mentally summon all outstanding betrothal and marriage contracts."

Once he had complied, five small stacks of parchment were laid out. Hogrod began shuffling through them.

"So, firstly, there is a betrothal contract between yourself and Ginevra Weasley." The goblin held a document between two fingers like it was tainted and sneered at it. "I have reviewed it briefly, and the contract is garbage, no doubt created by Dumbledore in the hopes of tricking you into signing. It would basically hand over control of everything to Miss Weasley leaving you with little to nothing. The whole thing is illegal but if you had signed it, it still would have been binding."

Harry shivered. "Can we burn it to ensure that never happens?"

The goblin grinned savagely. "It would be best to keep a copy in one of your vaults as proof against Dumbledore should you ever wish to press charges. This constitutes as creating an illegal contract with the intent to bind someone into servitude, which is also illegal, as well as attempted line theft. If it is in your vault, he will not be able to access it."

Harry agreed and with a click, the contract vanished.

"On the Potter side, there are a few more legitimate betrothal and marriage contracts, unfortunately, none of them can be fulfilled as the heirs are underage or married already."

He set aside one pile and moved to the next, flicking through them. He continued working his way through the stacks, setting aside each document. After a little while, Harry picked some of the ones already reviewed to look at. He could see that while the text detailing his side of the agreement was written in black, those relating to the other family were greyed out. Apparently magic could tell when a contract was not able to be enacted.

Suddenly Hogrod paused, extracting a document and reading through it carefully.

"This is interesting. We have an unfulfilled marriage contract between the houses of Black and Prince. The contract is reasonably fair on both sides and so far, looks to be enactable. The current Prince Lord is neither married nor underage." The goblin looked up, fixing Harry with a curious look.

"Could you arrange a meeting? Urgently? Its 10 am now, so we only have a little time before I have to meet with Dumbledore. If we have something in the works before Dumbledore tries, then that could delay him. If not, then we can just try to find another way to stall."

"Of course." The goblin inclined his head, grabbing a blank sheaf of parchment, he dashed off a letter, placing it in a tray on his desk where it disappeared.

"Now we wait. Tea?" Hogrod smirked.

The pair settled in to wait for a response, sipping their tea as half an hour trickled by.

“Hogrod, I have been meaning to ask, if I were to come into a vast quantity of rare potions ingredients, would you be able to assist with their sale?”

The goblin grinned ruthlessly, withdrawing a sheaf of parchment from his desk and the pair got down to negotiating the sale of his Basilisk. He assured the goblin that he had arranged for a Potion Master to harvest the beast, but they would need someone to assist with the collection, storage and sale of the parts.

Suddenly, a knock was heard at the door.

"The Prince Lord, as requested Hogrod." A goblin ushered in a man that Harry instantly recognised.

"Severus!" He cried in surprise.

The man's eyes snapped around to Harry, scanning him over quickly. "Harry?"

The other goblin departed, easing the door closed.

"Well if the two of you are familiar enough to be on a first-name basis, then this should be easier." The goblin smirked and Harry couldn't help the blush that stained his cheeks. Perhaps, for once in his life, something would go right for him.

"Harry, what is this about? The letter was urgent, it requested my presence immediately."

"Come sit." Harry gestured to the chair next to his, settling in and turning to face Snape fully. He couldn't help but take a moment to drink in the other man. Once again he was reminded about how much he cared for the Potions Master. He wasn't sure what this was, but it seemed astonishingly possible he was in love with Severus Snape. His heart constricted painfully at the thought.

Taking a deep breath, Harry began to explain. "I saw the Twins the other week, we were talking and, apparently Ginny has been lying, telling everyone that she and I are secretly dating, that we are serious. Molly is apparently planning a wedding for later in the summer. Then Dumbledore sent me a letter asking to meet for lunch today and I have this feeling he's going to try to force me to marry Ginny to keep control of me. Hogrod found a betrothal contract for me and Ginny which was apparently terribly illegal, and we have been looking for solutions. He found a contract between the houses of Prince and Black and… Well… Here you are."

“Sirius made you the Black Heir?” Severus asked and Harry nodded.

Severus closed his eyes, leaning back in his chair he pinched the bridge of his nose. "My mother. She was the Prince Heir; she was betrothed to Orion Black but loathed the man. She ran, getting herself married and knocked up to escape the contract. I didn't think it was still active."

"No contract really stops, but it’s not enforceable. This is just an option we can use to prevent Dumbledore from forcing Lord Potter to comply with marrying Miss Weasley. This contract is older and steeped in house magic; as such it would supersede anything Dumbledore could create." The goblin looked between the pair. "I'll give you a few minutes to discuss the matter, but it is now a little after eleven am and you will need to depart for your lunch soon."

With that the goblin left, a heavy silence filling the room.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the cliffy. I had a question about the forced bonding tag, It's for Dumbledore's attempt to force harry into bonding with Ginny. It's also for... well... You'll see.

* * *

"I'm sorry Severus, I didn't know it was you. Well, I'm happy it's you, but you don't have to do this. I understand if you don't want to shackle yourself to me, marriage isn't something that should be entered into lightly and I don't want you to think you have to." Harry rambled, staring into the middle ground.

He didn't even notice the other man moving until cool fingers pressed against his lips. Harry stopped talking, wide eyes meeting amused dark orbs.

"Harry, breathe."

He inhaled heavily, not even realising he had been halfway to hyperventilating.

"This is unexpected, but not unwelcome. Perhaps too soon but not unforeseen. Please calm down." The smile was gentle, tone soft.

Harry had never seen Snape like this before, the man looked so gentle, so affectionate, gazing at him. Harry flushed, trying to suppress the urge to cry. His exhale was shuddery, eyes dropping to his hands. The fingers on his lips slid down, tucking under his chin and forcing him to look up. Once he did, Severus sat back in his chair, opening his arms. It took a beat before Harry threw himself at the other man and was soon wrapped up tightly.

Long fingers carded through his shaggy hair. Harry could feel Snape's nose press into his hair. "Your hair is much more reasonable when it is longer, are you growing it out?"

Harry couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, I figured it was worth a shot and it seems to be working."

Harry tipped his head back, looking at the other man. "Severus, I didn't know you were the Prince Lord. I figured that I might get whomever it was to agree to a betrothal with a generous exit clause so that I could have something in place to prevent Dumbledore from forcing me to marry Ginny, at least in the short term. I don't want to marry her; I can't believe they are doing this. Well, I don't know for sure, but the indicators are there. Why can't they leave me alone-"

"Harry." Severus cut him off again. "I know you are struggling, but I really need you to calm down." He waited for Harry to breathe before starting again.

"Now, do you want to enforce the marriage contract and have this all done with, or would you prefer the freedom of a betrothal so that if you don't want to marry at the end you can get out?" Severus' voice was steady, with no indication of his preference.

Harry blinked in surprise before gently extracting himself. Sitting back in his chair, he reached out to grasp the other man's hand.

"Wait, are you saying you would be willing to marry me? Here? Now?" Snape nodded slowly and Harry felt astonishment wash over him. "Why?"

Snape frowned and quirked a brow in silent query.

“Why would you, in all that you are, be willing to marry me? I’m…” Harry struggled, he could see Severus was confused, and a little hurt. Harry fought with his old conditioning, his old issues, but they won out.

“You’re amazing! You’re so smart and clever and witty. Since the war has ended, you’re beautiful! Well, I always thought you were handsome, but the lack of stress has done wonders for you. Everyone has been eying you off, you could have anyone you wanted. Why on earth would you shackle yourself to some broken down, abused teenager when you could get whoever you wanted?”

“Harry,” Severus reached out to cup his cheek. “I am not a kind man, nor an easy man. I am often cruel. I am not one for flowery words or overly emotional displays. But you, you saw me, you cared for me before others saw me as attractive or desirable. You saw past the pain in my heart, you forgave me my betrayals, of which I had many.

“Harry, I am unsure of what I feel for you, but I have not felt it before and doubt I will find it again. I was willing to wait for you for another year but find myself… relieved at the opportunity to have you sooner. To have you in my life, and in my bed. It will be difficult, and we will need to keep it a secret until you leave school, but it would protect you from any further harassment by others. If we were betrothed, you could be forced to marry someone else once the contract ended, and the betrothal would be for naught. But if we married, nothing could break us apart.”

Harry could only nod mutely. He could see where Severus was coming from but still struggled to believe it was going to happen. Before he could respond, the door opened and Hogrod returned.

“My Lords, has a conclusion been reached?”

“We will honour the contract between the houses of Prince and Black. Is a ceremony required or may we simply sign the contract and be done with it?” Severus replied briskly.

“There is a brief ritual required before signing the contract. You will need a witch or wizard that knows both of you to facilitate. Wizarding magic is too different from goblin for me to make it work.” Hogrod started stacking away the papers, ensuring the marriage contract was left out.

Severus shared a look with him and Harry worried at who they could use, there were few who would help them and keep the secret.

“Poppy, she will help us. We will need her this year anyway.”

Harry’s expression changed to confusion.

Severus looked to Hogrod. “Do you have a floo I could use?”

* * *

Severus was guided to a nearby office with a floo he could use. His mind was reeling but he didn’t have time to deal with everything swirling in his head. Instead, he called out the address he knew Poppy would be at.

“Pomfrey homestead!” Thrusting his head in, he waited for the spinning to stop before opening his eyes.

“Poppy? Poppy! Please! It’s Severus, it’s urgent! Are you there?”

He could hear footsteps in the distance and a few moments later the matron came bustling into the room.

“Severus! This is unexpected. What’s wrong?” She queried.

“Poppy I need your assistance with something, I’ll explain when you come through, you won’t need your bag.” He added as she reached for it.

“Alright, following you back through now.” He pulled his head back, keeping the connection active and straightened as Poppy stepped out of the fireplace.

She glanced around and raised an eyebrow at him. “Gringotts? Severus what on earth have you gotten yourself into now?”

“Poppy, thank you,” He glanced around, seeing the goblin that had escorted him to the room had left. “Do you recall last year when I came to you and asked about Harry Potter and his medical records?”

“Of course, that was the end of it, wasn’t it?” She replied.

“Take a seat Poppy,” He dragged her over to a couch. “We don’t have much time or I would explain better. Suffice to say, Dumbledore orchestrated the systematic abuse of Harry Potter which I discovered during our first Occlumency lesson. After the lesson, I came to you to confirm that it had been Dumbledore covering it up. I proceeded to spend the next six months training and teaching Harry. This culminated in Harry confronting the Dark Lord at the Ministry and defeating him. Harry was sent back to his relatives once more that summer where he was abused again. I have been helping him heal from the abuse that he suffered, he is a different man now…” Severus trailed off for a moment, remembering seeing Harry earlier, how much of a man he looked.

Shaking himself from his reverie, he continued. “We have developed a rather amicable relationship. There are… feelings.”

Poppy’s eyebrows rose and he could see her biting her tongue.

“Nothing has happened due to Harry’s age and my position as his professor. We had intended on attempting a relationship once he graduated from Hogwarts. Unfortunately, our hand has been forced.”

Her brows snapped together with a frown.

“It appears that Dumbledore is planning on coercing Harry into marrying Ginevra Weasley before the end of the summer. Apparently, she has been telling her family that she and Harry have been in a secret relationship. Harry discovered earlier that there was a marriage contract that existed between him and the Weasley chit. According to Harry’s account manager, the thing was horrific and positively illegal.”

He took a breath, massaging his temple. “While going through the different contracts, they discovered one between the House of Black and the House of Prince. You see, Harry is now the Black Lord as Sirius is not able to take up the mantle. Years ago, I claimed my grandfathers' title when he passed, which was Lord Prince. The contract had been for my mother and Orion Black which she fled. Harry and I have discussed it and have decided to enact the contract. To which, we require a bonder.”

Severus looked up at the matron who looked slightly gobsmacked, processing everything.

“Let me clarify.” She began and Severus nodded for her to go on. “Potter was abused because of plans Dumbledore placed in motion. You rectified the damage and trained the boy, in the process developing feelings for each other.” She paused, eyes sharp. “They are mutual yes?”

He glared at her, affronted, and nodded.

“Good, everything has been fine and dandy for the past year with the two of you toeing the line and planning to pursue a relationship once it was acceptable. Now you discover that Ginny has been lying about a secret relationship with Potter and Dumbledore intends on coercing Potter into marrying Ginny if you don’t marry the boy first.”

“That is about the shape of it, yes.” Severus resisted the urge to pace or shake the woman or do something to hurry her up.

After a few moments of thought Poppy rose to her feet, dusting off her skirt. “Well then, lead the way!”

Blinking in surprise, Severus rose and quickly led her back to Hogrod’s office. Harry was pacing, frantically checking his watch and raking his fingers through his hair.

“Severus!” He breathed and clearly resisted the need to rush to him.

“Poppy has agreed to be our binder. Hogrod, do you have the ritual?”

The goblin handed over a sheaf of parchment, directing the couple to stand facing each other in front of the desk with their left hands clasped. Poppy stood facing the desk with her wand resting on their joined hands, the sheaf of parchment in the other hand.

_“Adiuro vos unum denique peridoneum, quo animo, firmans animum denique peridoneum, quo meam. Dirumpamus vincula et ligabunt te nihil potest et dilacerant.”_ She chanted, tongues of flame shooting out and wrapping around their hands and wrists, tangling together in beautiful harmony.

She paused before continuing in English. “Now you are bound one to the other, with a tie that is unbreakable. Take the time of binding, before the final vows are made, to grow in wisdom and knowledge of each other. That your bonding will be strong, that your love will last, in this life and beyond.”

The light crept up their arms as she spoke, tendrils wending into their hearts, their minds and their cores. As the light faded, she held out the parchment for Severus to take, indicating a section for him to read.

“I take you into my heart, my mind, my soul, At the rising of the moon, And the setting of the stars. To honour and to cherish, through all that may come. In all our lives, that we may meet and know, and love again, and remember.”

She took the parchment back, handing it over to Harry and indicating the same section for him to repeat.

“I take you into my heart, my mind, my soul, At the rising of the moon, And the setting of the stars. To honour and to cherish, through all that may come. In all our lives, that we may meet and know, and love again, and remember.”

Immediately, the light encasing their hands flared a rich gold, filling the room, before dying out altogether. An invisible force wrapped around the pair, pushing them together and they embraced. Severus cradled Harry to him, pressing a fierce kiss to trembling lips. They lost themselves in each other for a few moments before a throat was cleared nearby.

Flushing, Harry buried his face in Severus’ throat and the Potions Master smirked. Poppy smiled back. “Congratulations gentlemen, Severus, we will be meeting for tea, and soon.” He eyes were sharp as she nodded to him before sweeping from the room.

“Apologies my Lords,” Hogrod interrupted. “It is after noon, if we are to continue this charade, you must depart Lord Potter.”

“Will you wait for me? I want to see you after I get rid of Dumbledore.” Severus nodded, pressing a brief kiss to his bonded’s lips before he was ushered into a different office to wait.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back for the fresh chapter! I give you, Dumbledick and Severus being nice.
> 
> I have some good news and some bad, the bad news is, is that I had to split part six into two, so now there is a part seven. The good news is that I have finished part six! I am working through part seven, but I'm not overly happy with the structure, there just isn't enough plot, too many Prophet articles. I'm not a fan of stories that are just article after article. I appreciate their purpose, but still... Anyway, thanks for your comments, they help inspire me to keep writing!
> 
> I'm not sure if any of you care, but I'm on tumblr, oh-my-hamilton, if any of you are interested I can sneak some of my story boards, because I'm crazy and obsessive and I wrote the bloody things out and now I don't know what to do with them...

* * *

Harry was led from Hogrod’s office, quickly making his way out of Gringotts and to the Leaky. He could feel the magic scratching under his skin and tried not to show his discomfort. He could feel the fresh bond with Severus tugging on his core, urging him to remain with the man, to be connected. This was going to be an uncomfortable lunch and the fresh bond with Severus was only going to make it worse.

Stepping into the dim bar area of the Leaky, Tom spotted him and beckoned him over.

“Minister Dumbledore has booked a private room for you both to have lunch, Mr Potter. Go up the stairs to room 4.”

Harry thanked the owner and made his way to the room. He cast a quick freshening charm over himself, revelling in the free use of his magic now that he was seventeen, before pushing the door open.

Dumbledore was sitting at a small square dining table by a roaring fire in garish robes. You would think that with the significance of his position the man would invest in something with muted tones, but apparently combining rich purple with an uncomfortable shade of canary yellow was more appropriate.

The Minister greeted him as genially as he always had, welcoming him to eat and drink the feast that had been laid out. As soon as Harry reached for his drink or food, his ring went alternatively hot and cold. Compulsion potions and love potions assumedly keyed to Dumbledore and Ginny respectively. With a mental sigh, Harry prepared himself to go hungry as he banished anything and everything that went in his mouth.

Dumbledore waited until most of the way through the meal and Harry made sure to have his expression appropriately glazed.

“My boy, Ginevra has been telling her mother about the two of you dating. We were all so happy to hear about it!”

Harry only hummed, pretending to take another mouthful of his butterbeer.

“She seemed upset at your insistence that the relationship remains secret. Really my boy, a secret relationship? There is nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to hide any more. Voldemort was defeated so there is no longer any reason to hide your relationship with Miss Weasley.”

Harry nodded, stuffing another mouthful into his mouth, banishing it and pretending to chew.

“But now that she is expecting, you really must make an honest woman out of her. Your child cannot be raised out of wedlock. It’s alright though, Miss Weasley has told her mother and she will arrange everything. Isn’t that wonderful my boy?”

Harry choked. Merlin. So that was the play. Did the man really think he was that stupid? Or did he believe Ginny? This was going too far, really. Ginny, pregnant with his child, he tried not to laugh.

“Ginny’s pregnant?” He asked carefully.

Dumbledore twinkled at him but frowned in mock disapproval. “Yes, you should have been more careful, my boy.”

“I’m not sure how I could have Minister,” He replied, unable to help a small amount of sass sneaking into his tone. “I’ve never slept with Ginny, so I don’t see how it’s mine.”

The twinkle disappeared and the older man’s expression hardened. “Now Harry, there is no need to continue lying. Ginevra has said that the child is yours. It is your duty to marry her and ensure your heir is not a bastard.” The last sentence was almost hissed out.

Setting down his cutlery, Harry strengthened his Occlumency shield and looked up. “Minister Dumbledore,” He stressed the man’s title, hoping to remind him of his position. “If Ginny continues to insist the child is mine, I will insist on a paternity test. I am willing to swear under oath or veritaserum that the child is not mine, that I have never slept with Ginny nor that I have ever had a relationship with her.”

Harry felt a battering ram slam against his mind shield as Dumbledore tried to muscle his way in. He smiled coldly at the old wizard. The man had overplayed his hand.

“If you will excuse me, Minister, I am quite finished with this meeting. There are places I need to go and people I need to see.” Harry rose.

“Harry, we must still go to Gringotts so that your inheritance can be arranged.”

“I was unaware that I had anything left to inherit. Why would you be aware that I was owed an inheritance Minister Dumbledore?” Harry replied curiously.

“I was your magical guardian my boy, I should have told you sooner, but with the threat of Voldemort and my rise to Minister, I’m afraid it fell by the wayside.” Dumbledore sounded almost apologetic, but Harry knew it was a lie. At least he now had the man not only admitting he was Harry’s magical guardian, but that he had intentionally failed to tell Harry about his inheritance.

Harry glanced back over his shoulder before opening the door and gesturing out. “Shall we?”

Dumbledore rose and nodded regally, sweeping from the room and leading the way back to Gringotts. The man imperiously demanded a meeting with the Potter account manager and Harry had to suppress a savage grin. He hoped this would work out in his favour.

“Goblin,” Dumbledore sneered as they were shown into Hogrod’s office. “Mr Potter here would like to claim his lordships. I am here to facilitate and offer assistance with managing his vaults and votes in the Wizengamot.”

“I am afraid that we cannot do that Minister.” Hogrod bared his teeth in a mockery of a smile.

“And why not?” The old man drew himself up.

“Because I already claimed my Lordship this morning Minister.” Harry cut in.

Dumbledore rounded on him. “Well then, you must already know about the contract between yourself and Ginevra? There is no point denying it any longer my boy, we all know the two of you are together, it is time you do right by the girl. She is going to miss her final year at Hogwarts due to your carelessness.”

“Yes, I am aware of the contract Minister, though why you put such a contract in place years ago I still do not understand. Unfortunately, I will not sign the contract, nor will I agree to marry Ginny. I have not been, nor will I ever be in a relationship with her.” Harry replied, working hard to maintain an even tone.

“Unfortunately, you have little to no choice my boy, the contract is legal, and binding and you must complete it or risk your magic.” The man attempted sadness, but his eyes were smug.

“Actually,” Hogrod cut in, “There are other contracts which superseded the one you drafted between Lord Potter and Miss Weasley. The contract you prepared was an abomination and as long as Lord Potter never signed the thing, it remained invalid and illegal. Fortunately, we managed to discover a contract which was much more suitable and has already been enacted, so the discussion is a moot point.”

Dumbledore looked furious. “What contract.” He demanded.

“Unfortunately, I am unable to disclose such information to those parties not involved.” Hogrod’s eyes shined with savage pleasure at denying the old man.

The Minister rounded on Harry and once again his mental shields were battered against. Harry held fast, burying the knowledge of Severus as Lord Prince deep in his mind.

Eventually, the old man gave up, panting a little from the exertion. Harry smiled politely and waited for the next sally.

“Irrespective of what unwise decision you have made regarding your bonding and needlessly risking your magic, you remain too young and inexperienced to manage your own vaults and Wizengamot votes. It would be best to permit me to manage them for you.” Dumbledore attempted to regain his genial mask but mostly failed.

“Unfortunately, Minister, it would be quite illegal to make you my proxy in the Wizengamot as you are already the Minister for Magic and as such are not able to act as a proxy for any seats other than your own. Irrespective, I am sure Hogrod and I will be able to handle my accounts between us. If I struggle, I will always be able to turn to my partner for assistance.”

Harry watched with a smirk as the other wizard realised that it was a lost cause.

“You will regret going against me, my boy. I only had your best interest at heart and now you have squandered your life.” Dumbledore shook his head sadly, an expression of deep disappointment lining his face.

With one last sad blue look, he swept from the room.

“Lord Potter, one last thing,” Hogrod stated before Harry could leave in search of Severus. “There is the matter of your parents’ wills. Please return in a few days so that we may discuss something concerning that I have found.”

“Of course, Hogrod, thank you for understanding. May your enemies cower at your feet.” Harry gave the traditional greeting with a bow.

“And may your gold ever grow.” Hogrod responded.

* * *

Severus had been waiting in an office near Hogrod’s for what felt like forever. An idea occurred to him and, striding to the door, he poked his head out. There was a goblin waiting nearby.

"Excuse me, I would like to visit my vault while I wait."

The goblin acknowledged his request and so Severus followed to the carts and down until they reached the Prince vaults. Humming to himself, he walked past the piles of coins and jewels, the full bookcases towards the back corner. He tried to remember where exactly he had seen that box last. Rifling through piles of artefacts and tables covered in boxes and chests of varying sizes. Eventually, he came to the one he thought he was looking for. Snapping it open he grinned, withdrawing what he had been seeking and slipped them into his pocket before departing. He couldn't help pausing and picking up one of his books that he had been meaning to collect when he had the time to read it.

He was led back to the office and left to wait once more, whiling away the time by reading his book. Eventually, the door opened, and Harry stepped in. There was a shy hesitation in the other man. Everything had been so rushed, so hurried. Everything had spun on its head. They went from having to wait another year before considering a relationship to being bonded.

With a smirk, Severus held out his hand, welcoming the other man to come closer. Harry smiled at him, but still seemed unsure.

He waited until he had the younger man in his arms before he spoke. "As you know, I don't emote overly well, nor do I discuss such things willingly. Please know that I am happy with our union even if it was before I had planned. I understand your issues and insecurities, and I will try to help, but please remember that it goes against my nature to do so."

He paused, watching relief and understanding wash over Harry's face. Stepping back, he dropped to a knee and looked up.

"I know it is out of order, and this is probably the last romantic gesture I will ever make in my life, but I thought you might appreciate this." Sticking his hand in his pocket, he extracted the two white gold bonding rings he had retrieved earlier and offered them up to the gobsmacked man before him.

With a smirk, Severus slipped one onto Harry's left ring finger before offering him the other. Shaking himself, Harry seemed to come out of his stupor when the ring resized on his finger. Tugging Severus to his feet, Harry took the ring and slipped it on, smiling when it resized to fit.

"I won't be able to wear the ring at Hogwarts unfortunately, but I have a chain at home that I can slip the ring onto to wear under my clothes."

“No,” The younger man blurted, flushing as Severus quirked a brow. “Let me get you one?”

“Of course, if that is what you want.”

Severus couldn’t help but gather the younger man close, relishing in the warmth and comfort. Leaning down a little, he pressed a soft kiss to Harry’s lips. Eventually, he drew away, the man flushed and dazed.

“Would you like to go home?” Severus asked softly, watching a deeper red flush rise in Harry’s face.

He smirked when the other man nodded shyly. Grasping Harry’s hand, he led them to the floo room, calling out for Prince Manor and catching the younger man as he fell out of the fireplace.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the kudos and the comments. I appreciate all of my faithful readers :)
> 
> I'm starting to wonder if I should have tagged this as a slow burn? Or I dunno... I probably should have tagged a lot of things? My brain just ran away when I started trying to think of tags... I'm finally getting into the end game of the story, which is kind of cool, also super hard. I found a solution to the abundance of articles, which is good...

* * *

Harry tried desperately not to gape. When he had imagined a home for Severus, and he took a moment to revel in the fact that he never had to hesitate over thinking or calling the man that ever again, this had not been anywhere in the realm of possibility.

It was… Homey. The room was warm and comfortable, filled with elegant, soft furniture in browns and greens. The walls were old fashioned with wainscoting and creamy paint. There was a large window to the left with an incredible view of a rambling garden. Beautiful paintings, both landscapes and portraits lined the walls. The hardwood floors polished to a soft sheen.

“While the Prince family was not overly wealthy, it is old. When my grandfather died, he listed me as his heir. I was his only choice really, besides allowing the estate to fall to the Ministry. As much as it had galled the old man to hand over the bloodline to a half-blood, it was better than the alternative.” Severus sneered.

“A little before you began at Hogwarts, I was presented with the opportunity to quietly claim my inheritance. Dumbledore is not aware that I am the Prince Lord and since stepping into my role I have kept a very low profile.”

Harry finally forced himself to stop gaping and look at the man who had consented to bond him. No longer would Harry have to worry if their relationship was just a dream, no longer would he have to doubt. He thumbed the ring on his finger, relishing in the physical proof of their union.

The other man raised a brow at Harry’s continued silence, and he flushed. Everything was so overwhelming, so much had happened. He wasn’t sure how to process it all, wasn’t sure what was next. Unhelpfully, his mind jumped to what could happen next and he flushed deeper, resisting the urge to bury his face in his hands, to run, to hide.

“Harry?” The query was soft.

He was so very unused to such open kindness from the man, it was disorientating. For a moment he missed the sarcastic snark, missed the biting comments, wished the man would tell him to get his shit together like he used to. As much as he relished kindness from the man he cared for, that man was not commonly kind.

Fingers fitted under his chin and forced his eyes up. He mentally cringed at what was probably in them, waiting to see what Severus would do next. The man huffed, smirked and retracted his fingers. Tugging the cuffs of his shirt straight, he called for Raff and a house elf appeared.

“Tea please.”

The elf bowed and popped away, a few moments later a tray appeared on the coffee table. Severus swept over and sat down; movements elegant as always. Harry stood dumbly by the fire, still unsure what was going on.

“Sit, Harry,” The tone was closer to his normal one, “I will not pour for you.”

Harry flushed once more and scrambled to obey, the man smirking at him all the while.

“It is good to see that you understand and appreciate me as I am, but really, your continuing silence is somewhat unnecessary. I did not realise bonding with you would render you mute.”

“I just…” Harry paused, taking a sip of his tea before trying again. “A lot has happened, a lot has changed, I am trying to process it all. The meeting with Dumbledore, bonding with you, so much has changed today that I’m not entirely sure what tomorrow will look like.”

“Irrespective of what happens tomorrow or the days to come, we shall face it together. Just like I expect we will wake up tomorrow.” The man smirked at him over the rim of his teacup and Harry couldn’t help but choke.

His mind immediately began to spiral. He was better looking now, he thought, he hoped. They had put work into getting him fit and healthy, not having to return to the Dursleys helped. His body was still littered with scars though. He was inexperienced, had no idea what to do, how to act, how to _please_. He went cold at the thought. Pleasing his husband, something the man had been experiencing all year at the hands of a prostitute. Harry would not be able to compete with that.

He did not realise he was hyperventilating until strong arms wrapped around him.

“Breathe Harry, breathe with me.”

His head was turned until his ear was pressed to Severus’ chest. The steady thump-thump of his heartbeat helped, and Harry focused on timing his breathing to match the other man. Eventually, he calmed, and the man leant back, waiting for him to look up.

“Care to explain?”

“Um… Well… I guess it just… Hit me that we are going to finally… And you have been… I don’t know what I’m doing…” Harry blurted.

Severus huffed, clearly exasperated. “Harry, I can see that you are uncomfortable. Try not to worry so much. When it happens, it will happen. Just because we share a bed does not mean that we must have sex. When you are ready, we will. Now that we are bonded, I am content to be patient. Though, I must go to the Manor and cancel my membership.”

“I’m sorry.” Harry felt he might die from embarrassment. When did he turn into such a mess?

“What on earth are you sorry for, brat?” Severus exclaimed.

“Everything? For making you marry me, for making you feel like you have to give up Isaac, for not being ready, for being a mess.” Harry was mumbling by the end. At some point, the man would get sick of his damage, of his insecurities and would leave.

“I have already gone over this with you Harry, I do not have it in me to go over it again today.” The tone was curt, but not cold. “How about I give you a tour.”

Severus rose, straightening his robes before offering his elbow to Harry with a quirked brow. He scrambled up, tucking his hand into the offered spot and was drawn from the sitting room. The house had a formal parlour, extensive library, state of the art potions laboratory, magnificent kitchen, generous bathroom and two small studies. Rambling off the side of the main house was a master suite and two guest rooms.

Everything was elegant and tidy, though Harry could tell it had originally been a simple farmhouse. Wealth and time had led to the expansion of the house into the welcoming home it was now. The grounds were large, and Severus enjoyed showing him the rambling cottage gardens, the massive greenhouse and large green space. The entire property backed onto a forest that Harry imagined was filled with magical flora and fauna.

“Your home is beautiful.” Harry breathed when they returned to the sitting room.

“Our home, Harry. Ours.” Severus replied.

* * *

Harry woke early the next morning, warm and comfortable. During the night, Harry had migrated to curl against his husband. Now, he found himself wrapped tightly in Severus’ arms; face buried in his chest. He marvelled for a moment on his new reality. He had momentarily escaped the clutches of Dumbledore, he was married to the man of his dreams and had a home of his own.

Wriggling free, he moved to the wardrobe that Severus had given him last night, so he could unpack his things. Dressing in his running clothes, he found his way outside and began to slowly jog around the property, familiarising himself with the grounds in the cool morning air. The sun was barely beginning to rise, so the heat of summer hadn’t yet set in.

He couldn’t help but think of Sirius as he ran. They had fallen into a routine for the first half of the previous year, before Sirius went travelling, where most mornings they would meet up in the Room of Requirement and jog before breakfast. It had helped Sirius not feel quite so stir crazy during his confinement and it allowed Harry to get some bonding time in with his godfather, without anyone else.

From his discussions yesterday with Hogrod, the vast majority of his properties were in some level of disrepair. He desperately needed to inspect them all to decide what needed to be done to each of them, perhaps once they were all repaired he could talk with Hogrod about renting the properties, maybe selling some off, though he would have to make sure that each house would have a property allocated to it, so that when the titles were passed along there would be a manor home.

He stumbled at that thought. He was married to a man, to another Lord, between the two of them they had seven titles. What was supposed to happen when they died? How was he supposed to pass them on? He was gay, it’s not like they could have kids! Or maybe they could? It’s not like he knew much about the magical world, not really. Wizarding Traditions did not even remotely cover this situation. Perhaps Severus would know.

Shaking the train of thought off for later, he finished his run, darting inside and into the kitchen for a glass of water. He found two elves working on breakfast and greeted them gently, thanking them for their service.

Severus was just waking as he showered off his run and once the pair dressed, they went down to breakfast. They ate in comfortable quiet, though their hands awkwardly brushed over the butter and toast at one point. For both of them, this was their first time co-habiting with another and it would take time to learn each other’s patterns and habits.

Once finished, Severus turned to Harry. “One study is mine, would you like me to show you to the second so you have somewhere to work on your portfolios? I recall what it was like when I originally took over the Prince Estate and it had been recently managed by my Grandfather. I can’t begin to imagine what condition your estates would be in. The Potter Estate probably hasn’t been tended in the past twenty years and the Black Estate would have been in disarray since Orion died fifteen years ago. No one could decide who was entitled to be the Lord, but you managed it.” Severus smirked a little.

Harry flushed. “I’m not just the lord of the Potter and Black estates.” He murmured. “The goblins did a full inheritance test; I am now the Lord Black-Gaunt-Peverell-Gryffindor-Slytherin-Potter.”

The silence stretched following his pronouncement, so finally, Harry glanced up to see Severus genuinely gobsmacked. He giggled a little but stopped when the older man snapped his mouth shut and glared mildly.

“Well then, you will definitely need your own study then.” He commented finally before rising and ushering Harry through to the small unused study tucked into the corner of the main house. Two sides were dressed in warm timber and half-full bookcases, one external wall had floor to ceiling windows with heavy curtains that could be drawn, the final side had the door and the fireplace, a large landscape of a castle above the mantle.

Harry loved it immediately and expressed as such to his husband, pressing a quick kiss to his smiling lips before bounding off to the bedroom to gather together all of his study and estate materials. Settling in, he began penning a letter to Hogrod while flicking through the folders, noting down things that jumped out at him initially. He jotted down a request for someone to assist with reviewing and inspecting the properties. Hours slipped away without him realising as he reviewed and refined the portfolios, his meeting yesterday with Hogrod, while good for flagging initial concerns, had not been in-depth at all. Now it was up to him to guide his houses in the direction they deserved; he would make his legacies proud.

* * *

Severus was sitting down to breakfast, sipping his tea when he flicked open the copy of _The Prophet_ left by his setting. Harry was up in the shower, washing off from his morning run, so Severus usually had first dibs on the news of the day.

_Minister for Magic demands audit of all vaults by Gringotts_

_In a surprise move, Minister Dumbledore has demanded that Gringotts carry out and submit a full audit of all accounts held by wizards. This follows the Ministry’s recent attempts to seize all of the vaults associated with the Dark Faction of the Wizengamot. The Dark Faction vehemently refused to comply and the Goblins of Gringotts threatened the breaking of the Treaty. The Treaty between the Goblin Nation and the British Ministry has prevented any further rebellions since it was instituted in the late 18th Century. As such, the Ministry stepped down from their push for access, though it appears someone has now done their research._

_An oft-overlooked clause written late into the Treaty permits the Ministry to request audits of all wizarding vaults under the pretence of checking for theft or corruption within Gringotts. It is a clause specifically instituted so that the Goblins cannot take offence and begin a rebellion over legitimate concerns for fiscal security._

_With the political climate as it stands, the question remains, does the Ministry know something we do not? Are there concerns over the safety of our money within the hallowed halls of Gringotts? Or is this just another attempt at seizing control over wizarding finances from the Goblins._

Frowning heavily, Severus grew worried. This was not good, not at all… His musing was interrupted by Harry flumping down across from him, their feet tangling together happily.

“Morning Severus, anything interesting?” Harry asked, pouring himself a cup of tea.

Wordlessly, Severus handed over the paper, watching as Harry read it through.

“I was wondering how Dumbledore would retaliate. Not as finessed as he usually does.” Harry calmly handed the paper back to Severus who could only watch him with mild surprise.

“I should probably go see Hogrod, see what can be done to help them, but really, the Goblins know what they are doing.” Harry mused while munching on some toast. “There was something Hogrod asked me to go and talk to him about anyway, so this works well.”

“You aren’t worried?” Severus asked, still astonished by how well Harry was taking this.

Harry snorted. “The goblins are very clever. They would have seen that clause and found a solution long ago should it ever be enacted. I bet Dumbledore is going to be drowned in useless information instead of the helpful leads he is hoping for, to find dark artefacts.”

Severus nodded, a little surprised at the logic from his young husband. He really should know better by now. Reaching across the table, he couldn’t help but gather up Harry’s hand to press a kiss to his wrist. Harry flushed delightfully, and Severus could only smirk a little over his tea, marvelling a little at his new husband. Nothing much had happened last night, the day prior far too overwhelming for anything more than a good night kiss and a cuddle. He was happy though, having someone in his bed, someone beautiful and caring was a nice change in his lonely life.

He shook his head as he considered Harry’s previous words; the young man was very clever when he wanted to be, he just rarely had the opportunity to do so. Dumbledore had a formidable opponent in the ex-Boy-Who-Lived. It would be interesting watching Harry take Dumbledore apart, he was just glad to be along for the ride.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I went AWOL for a little bit, I had a bonkers weekend and then got distracted by a new idea... Anyway, I am still working on Part 7, am making some progress but I think I've gotten a fresh spark, so hopefully can churn out a few new chapters!
> 
> I have put a lot of work into trying to make the character development reasonable and believable. People don't just wake up the next day and decide to not be an asshole or a doormat after spending twenty odd years being that way. I know that I'm going to get more flames over this part and the next because Severus continues not being a great person and Harry takes a while to grow a spine. 
> 
> I can promise you all though, that the development is there, and change is coming. Perhaps I should chuck in a slow burn tag?
> 
> Anyway, we have some *feelings* in this. Smut will be in the next chapter. I know it seems a little slow, but there is stuff happening and emotions and yeah...

* * *

Harry and Severus arrived twenty minutes apart at Gringotts but were both shown to Hogrod’s office. Harry settled in with a small smile at his account manager.

“May your enemies cower at your feet, Hogrod.” Harry offered.

“And may your gold ever grow.” Hogrod responded.

“There was something about my parents' wills that you wanted to discuss?” Harry queried.

“Yes, Lord Potter. While carrying out the audit of your accounts, I discovered that your parents' wills had been sealed in an emergency Wizengamot session where Dumbledore claimed Magical Guardianship of you. Now that you have taken up the mantle of Lord, we are able to unseal the wills. Would you like to hear them?” Hogrod offered with surprising gentleness.

“May I wait for Severus to arrive?” Harry asked, chest feeling tight.

“Of course.”

They waited in silence for Severus to arrive some ten minutes later.

“Excellent, you are here Lord Prince. We have been waiting for your arrival. I have just notified Lord Potter that his parents' wills were sealed following their death, but with his taking up the Lordship, we are now able to unseal them. He requested we wait for you before we began.”

Harry reached out to grasp Severus’ hand tightly, watching as Hogrod withdrew two letters from his desk. The envelopes were gold and after he traced his finger down the back of it, the letter shook itself and popped up into the air, transforming to look like a golden howler.

“Being of sound mind and body, and under no influence of any mind-altering substance, I James Fleamont Potter, do declare this as my last will and testament and render all previous wills null and void on this the 11th day of October 1981.”

James’ voice filled the room and Harry felt overwhelmed to hear his father speak for the first time.

“If my wife, Lily Jasmine Potter nee Evans, survives me, she is to act as executor of the Potter Estate until such a time as our son, Harry James Potter, comes of age at which time she will receive a stipend as deemed appropriate by Harry at that time. In the event that Lily does not survive me, the Potter Estate will be held in trust by Gringotts as stipulated by our house charter.

“Provided that Harry is placed with one of the stipulated guardians listed in this will, the account manager, Hogrod, has my authority to allocate a reasonable stipend for the guardian to receive for the cost of raising Harry.

“Before I get to the bequeaths, I would like to formally state, that we were coerced from Potter Manor on Headmaster Dumbledore’s recommendation. He threatened the life of Lily’s muggle family should we fail to move into our Godric Hollow property. Dumbledore then offered to place the property under the fidelius charm which we accepted with no other option available. Dumbledore acted as the binder; we were encouraged to select Peter Pettigrew as our Secret Keeper. We had suspicious that Peter is a traitor, but we are also unsure of the loyalty of Remus John Lupin. Irrespective, Sirius Orion Black, my blood brother, is not guilty in any respect for our deaths. Should his hot head get the better of him and he goes after the traitor, and end up getting arrested, it is not the one who betrayed us.”

There was the sound of a heavy sigh before the voice continued.

“I leave the following bequeaths as exceptions to the above stipulations:

  1. Should Peter Pettigrew not be the traitor, I leave to him ʛ 10,000. Peter, go to university, buy a house, use the money how you want and I apologise for doubting you.
  2. Should Remus John Lupin not be the traitor, I leave to him ʛ 10,000. Remus, use it to buy yourself a cottage in the woods somewhere isolated so you have a home to retreat to when the world gets tough, I apologise for doubting you.
  3. Sirius, my brother, I leave you my old school trunk which is filled with our pranks and school memorabilia. It’s not like you need money or anything else. Teach Harry to be a better man than we were.
  4. To Alice Longbottom, I give you free reign on the Potter Manor greenhouses for one twenty-four-hour period to pillage our rare plants. Just make sure that you leave something intact for Harry.
  5. To Severus Tobias Snape, I want to extend my apologies. I was awful to you in school and you did not deserve the way I treated you, I am only sorry that it took my pending death for me to realise the error of my ways. I leave you the same offer I gave to Alice, access to the Potter Manor greenhouses for one twenty-four-hour period. I am sure you will appreciate some of the rare potions ingredients my father cultivated.

“Harry, you are one and currently playing with your favourite dog stuffed toy by my feet. I can only hope that life is kind to you, my son. Things have not gotten off to a good start but I pray things get better. I hope that you find good friends, a family to call your own, even if they are blood-related. I am sorry we could not be with you, to watch you grow into the man you should be. Please know that you are loved, so very much.

“I have spoken with the following parties and all have agreed to act as Guardian for Harry in the event of our death:

  1. Sirius Orion Black
  2. Alice Longbottom nee Macmillan
  3. Andromeda Lyra Tonks nee Black
  4. Augusta Adora Longbottom nee Rosier”

“I want to state categorically, that Harry should not be placed into the care of Lily’s sister, Petunia Astra Dursley nee Evans. We no longer trust that she will be able to see past her resentment of Lily to raise Harry properly.

This will has been witnessed by Lily Jasmine Potter nee Evans and Sirius Orion Black”

The envelope twisted in the air and flattened itself out once more on the desk.

Harry took a shuddering breath, leaning against Severus who wrapped his arm around Harry’s shoulders. A few moments passed before Hogrod reached out a finger to touch Lily’s will. Within seconds, her voice filled the room and Harry felt Severus’ breath catch beside him.

“Being of sound mind and body, and under no influence of any mind-altering substance, I Lily Jasmine Potter nee Evans, do declare this as my last will and testament and render all previous wills null and void on this the 11th day of October 1981.”

“If my husband, James Fleamont Potter, survives me, he is to inherit my estate in fullness with the exceptions of the below detailed bequeathments. In the event that James does not survive me, my estate will be held in trust by Gringotts until such a time as my son, Harry James Potter comes of age.

“Before I get to the bequeaths, I would like to formally state, that we were coerced from Potter Manor on Headmaster Dumbledore’s recommendation. He threatened the life of my muggle family should we fail to move into our Godric Hollow property. Dumbledore then offered to place the property under the fidelius charm which we accepted with no other option available. Dumbledore acted as the binder; we were encouraged to select Peter Pettigrew as our Secret Keeper. We had suspicious that Peter is a traitor, but we are also unsure of the loyalty of Remus John Lupin. Irrespective, Sirius Orion Black is not guilty in any respect for our deaths.”

“I leave the following bequeaths as exceptions to the above stipulations:

  1. Severus, my brother, I am sorry I did not accept your apology when you offered it. It is one of my biggest regrets and I hope that you will be able to move on. I leave you my old school trunk which is filled with my potions and charms notes. We collaborated so much during our school years that I hope having our notes once more will help bring you closure. Should you be involved in Harry’s life, I only ask that you show him your kindness and your passion. You are a wonderful man Severus, do not allow your bitterness and anger to drive everyone away.
  2. To Alice Longbottom, I give you my wedding jewellery set. Without a daughter to gift these to, I remembered how much you loved them. I hope you will wear them and think of me fondly.
  3. Provided that he is not found to be a traitor, to Remus John Lupin, I grant you access to my books. I know there are many rare tomes and I entrust them to your care until such a time as Harry is old enough for them.

“Harry, you are the sweetest little boy I could have ever asked for. You are already summoning your favourite toys and your bottle from my hands. I love you so very much and hate the idea that you will grow up without me. I just…”

There was the sound of her breath catching in a sob before she coughed.

“I love you, Harry, mama loves you so much.”

“I have spoken with the following parties and all have agreed to act as Guardian for Harry in the event of our death:

  1. Sirius Orion Black
  2. Alice Longbottom nee Macmillan
  3. Andromeda Lyra Tonks nee Black
  4. Augusta Adora Longbottom nee Rosier”

“I want to state categorically, that Harry should not be placed into the care of my sister, Petunia Astra Dursley nee Evans. We no longer trust that she will be able to see past her resentment of me to raise Harry properly.

This will has been witnessed by James Fleamont Potter and Sirius Orion Black”

Harry was unaware of what was happening anymore, lost in the overwhelming waves of grief that flooded him. The echoes of her final words to him bouncing through his head.

_‘Harry, you are so loved. Mama loves you. Dada loves you. Harry, be safe. Be strong’_

Time ceased to mean anything as Harry cried, feeling like his heart was being torn out.

When he stopped crying, he simply sat, slowly becoming aware of the strong arms holding him tightly. He was warm and safe and loved. Gradually, he felt some of the pieces of his heart come back together, wrapped in Severus’ embrace. Sighing, he snuggled closer, burying his nose into Severus’ neck and inhaling the scent of the Potions Master.

He wasn’t sure how long it was when Severus gave him a little squeeze and eased him back a little.

“Harry, come on, we need to finish up here and go home.” Severus murmured in his ear.

Harry whined but eventually sat back a little, blushing when he realised he was cradled in Severus’ lap. Glancing around he was relieved to see that Hogrod had left.

“He left not long after Lily’s will finished. He seemed to realise we would need a little time. If you are ready, I will call him back so we can finish up.”

Harry nodded and shuffled off Severus’ lap, glancing at his husband and realising his eyes were red-rimmed also. Severus reached forward, tapping a little bell left on the desk for them and Hogrod returned within moments.

“Did you have any comments about the bequeathment in the will?” Hogrod asked, voice surprisingly gentle.

“Peter and Remus are both traitors, so their entitlements are not to be executed. Would Neville Longbottom, as Alice’s son, be able to claim her entitlement?” Harry queried softly. He knew that Neville would love it.

“Yes, that would be a common practice. I am assuming the bequeathment to Severus Snape is acceptable to be enacted?” Hogrod asked drily.

Harry chuckled a little. “Yes, that would be fine. Would it be alright if I sent a letter to Neville and organised to give him his gifts?”

“Of course, Lord Potter. I will arrange for the trunk and jewellery to be collected before you leave today, not I believe there was something you both wanted to discuss?” Hogrod asked as he sent off a little fluttering note.

“We saw the article in _The Prophet_ about the Ministry demanding an audit of all wizarding accounts. I told Severus that the Goblin Nation would have seen the clause and have found a way around it. Irrespective, we wanted to check in and see if there was anything we needed to do to ensure our safety as well as the safety of the Goblin Nation.” Harry smiled weakly at Hogrod.

The goblin replied with a malicious grin. “By the definition of the time when the contract was written, wizarding vaults referred to vaults that were made with wizarding magic. Vaults had been made with goblin magic since the founding of Gringotts. Occasionally we get a light wing family who insists on enchanting their own vault as they do not trust goblins to safely manage their vault but required the access which having a vault at Gringotts granted. So, we would strip away our protections and charms, allowing the wizarding family to place their own protections.

“It is easy to tell the difference between standard Goblin vaults and the ones owned by Wizards as the wizarding vaults are very poorly maintained. They do not receive any of the maintenance services which we offer as they purchase the vault at the beginning. They pay regular fees to continue using the facilities we offer, such as the mine cart to get to the vaults and the teller fees, but other than that it is up to the wizard to do the rest. The Weasleys were one such family and their money has been stolen over the years by sticky-fingered wizards and witches that had vaults nearby. As the Weasleys never applied enough enchantments to prevent theft from their vault.”

Harry smirked at little at Severus, triumphant, Severus could only roll his eyes. “It is safe to assume that none of our vaults are wizarding vaults?”

“Yes, Lord Prince, you would be correct, all vaults managed by yourselves are goblin vaults.” Hogrod commented and there was a knock at the door.

Another goblin stepped in with a trunk and a box in hand. Both were laid out on the desk and the goblin departed again without a word. With shaking hands, Harry reached out to open the box. Inside was a delicate necklace and earrings. White gold wrapped around and through diamond and emerald stones. Clicking it shut, Harry tucked it into his pocket. He watched as Severus reverently picked up the trunk, shrinking it down and putting it away.

“Was there anything else you required today?” Hogrod queried at last.

“No, thank you Hogrod, may your enemies cower at your feet.”

“And may your gold ever flow.” Hogrod returned as they stepped from the office, going their separate ways.

* * *

It took a day before Harry could set pen to paper to write to Neville.

_Neville,_

_I went to Gringotts, a lot of things happened. I need to talk to you, to share something with you. Will you meet with me? So I can explain? Meet me at the Leaky, tomorrow at 10, please?_

_Harry_

Neville’s reply was only a brief assent. Harry spent the rest of the day trying to distract himself from what would happen tomorrow. He felt so very raw, and Harry knew Severus was struggling too. His husband had disappeared down into his lab and had not returned.

It was late into the evening and Harry had already gone to bed. He had been lying in the dark for Merlin knew how long, thinking over the little he had from his mother. Perhaps he should go down into her personal vault, see if there was anything down there for him. He sat up when the door eased open and Severus slipped in.

“I’m sorry if I woke you.” He murmured as he stripped off his robes.

Harry waved it away. “I couldn’t sleep. Come to bed?”

“What did you think I was doing Brat?” Severus commented as he slipped within the sheets and wrapped himself around Harry who settled back down.

Sleep was a long time in coming, as Harry simply soaked up the comfort of having his husband close, of not being alone. He only hoped that Severus felt the same.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this thing just keeps growing... I just had to add on a 'Part 8' because this bloody thing just won't stop! I have all the major plot points but in order to keep it all flowing well, it just... gah. Anyway, I guess it means more content for you guys, but it's starting to feel like I won't ever get to the end, yano?
> 
> Anyway, I gift you all, some long-awaited smut, but it's at the end, so you will have to slog through feelings first...
> 
> Also, as I am trying to wrap up loose ends and reviewing the finished parts, I keep adding in more content! I don't know where all of this is coming from, but I'm just happy that the inspiration keeps coming. I think I might get massively drunk to celebrate finishing this blasted thing.
> 
> On an entirely unrelated topic, I have completely stalled with this snarry time travel fic I am working on. How on earth do you force a confrontation between Voldy and Dumbledore at the height of their power and somehow make sure neither of them walk away?
> 
> I have also decided that I am not overly happy with Triumph Between, the first fanfiction I wrote... well... I adopted the story from someone else and it's just... so much wasted opportunity. So I am re-reading it all and planning and asking questions. So perhaps once I finish Benevolent Overlord it will become my next major project... 
> 
> Anyway, not sure why I'm sharing this all... Figured some of you might be interested. I'll stop rambling now and let you all get to the blasted chapter. Thanks for all your comments!

* * *

“Harry!” Neville exclaimed rushing over when he finally stepped out of the floo at the Leaky.

Harry smiled weakly and hugged him tightly.

“Harry are you alright? You sounded funny in your letter. You look like you haven’t slept!” Neville commented softly.

“Come with me, I’ll explain when we get there.” Harry replied, tugging Neville outside to the apparition point at the entrance of the Alley. Neville took his arm without hesitation and they popped away, appearing moments later at Potter Manor.

Harry couldn’t suppress the well of emotion that overflowed from his heart. This should have been his home. This is where he was supposed to grow up with his parents and his siblings and Neville. Neville, confused and concerned, wrapped his arms around Harry’s shoulders, holding the other boy as he sobbed.

Minutes trickled by, soaking into the soil like Harry’s tears into Neville’s robes. Eventually, he hiccoughed to a stop.

“Harry? You’re worrying me, can you tell me what’s happening?” Neville asked, rubbing his shoulders gently.

“Let’s sit down alright?” Harry suggested roughly, leading Neville away from the wide stone steps that were the entrance to Potter Manor and to a small patio off the side. There were glass doors that lead into what looked like a sitting room and a low stone wall that wrapped around the patio.

The Manor itself was two storeys, the lower half constructed of granite while the upper floor was built out of some kind of hardwood. It was large and solidly contained. The gardens were of iconic English design with topiaries and low hedge mazes, there were little gardens in pretty designs filled with native flowers that bloomed under the house-elves care.

They settled together on a stone bench set into the low wall. “I went to Gringotts on my birthday, a lot happened and I’m not ready to talk about most of it, but something came up that impacts you.” Harry took a breath, looking up at Neville and his earnest blue eyes. “My parents' wills had been sealed at their death, so they were never released. I unsealed them. Did you know that your mother was listed as one of my guardians? We were supposed to grow up together.” He was whispering by the end.

“Oh Harry,” Neville sighed, gathering him into his arms once more.

After a few moments finding comfort with each other, Harry sat back a little. “My mother and father left things to your mother. I would like to give them to you.”

Harry withdrew the jewellery box, holding it out to Neville who took it reverently. He snapped it open, gazing for a few moments before looking up at Harry in confusion.

He smiled weakly. “Apparently your mother loved it when my mother wore it at her wedding. In the event of my mothers' death it was to go to Alice so she could wear it, or give it to her daughter. So I am giving it to you now, perhaps, when you get married, you could ask your wife to wear it? So that my mother could be remembered? Otherwise, give it to your daughter whenever you have one, please. Just… Accept this as a token of the friendship between our houses and cherish the story of our mothers. Women who were taken too soon.”

Neville set it down on the bench beside him before hugging Harry again. “I think this is the most hugs I have ever been able to give you ever.” Neville chucked and Harry could only hug him tighter.

Eventually, they separated. “Thank you Harry.”

“There was something else. Apparently, your mother loved gardening and herbology as much as you do. My father left her twenty-four hours of free reign in the Potter greenhouse. Apparently we have quite a few rare plants that she had been eyeing off. Would you like to have a look?”

Neville lurched to his feet, tucking the jewellery box into his robes. “Oh Merlin! I wish you had warned me! I have nothing with me!”

Harry laughed. “Calm down Neville, let’s go see the Greenhouse and we can go from there.”

He led the way to the Potter Greenhouse where Harry had the house elves provide everything Neville needed while he ransacked the collection. They whiled away the hours well into the evening before calling it a night. Harry promised they could return tomorrow to finish collecting everything Neville wanted and the other boy practically bounced home.

* * *

Severus paged through one of Lily’s notebooks dolefully. His emotions were tangled and he was unsure where to begin with it all. The reading of the wills for Potter and Lily were… unexpected. The apology from Potter had stunned him.

What had surprised him more was how little anguish he felt at hearing Potter’s voice once more. There had been genuine regret in Potter’s voice when he had spoken of Severus and he was unsure how to process it. Severus’ anger at his treatment at the hands of the Marauders had been a cornerstone of his personality for so long that without the foundation, he felt somewhat adrift. He had been shocked to realise how little he still cared. Spending time with Harry, knowing him, seeing the man he had become had soothed some of the hurts carried deep in his heart.

Nevertheless, the snarl of anger and hurt and regret throbbed in his chest.

Hearing Lily refer to him as her brother had taken his breath away. Listening to her voice once more a blessing. Except all of his thoughts and feelings had been smothered under the anguished cries being torn from Harry. Being with Harry had healed the old betrayal, and while Lily’s apology washed away the last of the pain associated with her memory, Harry had done more than her words ever could.

It was astonishing to realise just how much Harry had changed him, had impacted his life. Severus had never expected to find any modicum of peace but Harry was gifting it to him daily.

Guilt tinged his thoughts. Harry was struggling, moving past the words of his parents, past the betrayal of Dumbledore, again, and Severus had left him to it to focus on himself and his own tangle of feelings.

Flicking through the book for a few more moments, he looked at the trunk sitting, still mostly full on his lab table. Perhaps Harry would appreciate sharing her old notes with him. Resolved, Severus gathered everything back into the trunk and made his way out of the lab, determined to find his husband and share the memories contained within with the younger man.

* * *

A few days later, Harry’s Hogwarts letter was delivered. He quickly discarded the opening letter, inviting him to return to Hogwarts the following year. Next were his Sixth-year results.

_SIXTH-YEAR EXAMINATION RESULTS_

_Pass Grades:_

| 

_Fail Grades:_  
  
---|---  
  
_Outstanding (O)_

| 

_Poor (P)_  
  
_Exceeds Expectations (E)_

| 

_Dreadful (D)_  
  
_Acceptable (A)_

| 

_Troll (T)_  
  
_HARRY JAMES POTTER HAS ACHIEVED:_

_Charms:_

| 

_O_  
  
---|---  
  
_Defence Against the Dark Arts:_

| 

_O_  
  
_Herbology:_

| 

_O_  
  
_Potions:_

| 

_O_  
  
_Transfiguration:_

| 

_O_  
  
Harry couldn’t help but feel deeply proud at getting straight O’s on his sixth-year subjects, finding an additional sheet of parchment just behind his results which had his OWL’s for Arithmancy and Ancient Runes.

_ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS_

_Pass Grades:_

| 

_Fail Grades:_  
  
---|---  
  
_Outstanding (O)_

| 

_Poor (P)_  
  
_Exceeds Expectations (E)_

| 

_Dreadful (D)_  
  
_Acceptable (A)_

| 

_Troll (T)_  
  
_HARRY JAMES POTTER HAS ACHIEVED:_

_Ancient Runes_

| 

_O_  
  
---|---  
  
_Arithmancy_

| 

_E_  
  
Admittedly, it was a little disappointing to get an E on Arithmancy, but he found the subject harder than Ancient Runes. Still, it was an excellent result. Setting aside his grades, he began reading through the last sheaf of parchment; it looked like the additional information was more personalised this year, instead of giving everything, it was only imparting that which was relevant to him.

_Charms_

| 

_The Standard Book of Spells Year 7 by Miranda Goshawk_  
  
---|---  
  
_Potions_

| 

_Advanced Potion-Making Part 2 by Libatius Borage_  
  
_Transfiguration_

| 

_A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration Part 2 by Emeric Switch_  
  
_Defense Against the Dark Arts_

| 

_The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts _

_Confronting the Faceless (Recommended)_  
  
_Herbology_

| 

_Flesh-Eating Trees of the World_  
  
_Ancient Runes_

| 

_Ancient Runes Made Easy_

_Rune Dictionary (Recommended)_  
  
_Arithmancy_

| 

_Numerology and Gramatica_

_New Theory of Numerology (Recommended)_  
  
_For those electing to study an independent language, A selections of appropriate language books are provided by Flourish and Blotts, please request the required text for the language you are electing to study._

* * *

That evening, Severus had his elf prepare a sumptuous meal with a bottle of champagne on the side. They couldn’t risk being seen together in public, so going out for a celebratory dinner was unfortunately out of the question. By the time they had made their way through the potato soup entrée and roasted duck main, Harry was bubbly and a touch tipsy, much to Severus’ growing amusement. Their crème brulee was devoured before Severus lent across the table to kiss the taste of caramel and cream from Harry’s lips. Rising, Severus took a mouthful of champagne into his mouth before kissing Harry, the golden liquid trickling between their lips as their tongues tangled. He couldn’t help but groan as Harry chased the streams down his bare throat, chasing the taste. Unable to resist, Severus grabbed Harry by the arse, causing the younger man to squeak and wrap himself around him, pressing the pair together chest to hip.

Stumbling and crashing into walls, the pair kissed and laughed as they made their way up to the bedroom. Severus plonked him down on the edge of the bed, rapidly unbuttoning Harry’s shirt so he could chase the last taste of champagne before it was all _Harry, Harry, Harry_ under his lips and tongue. Sinking down on his knees, Severus rested his long fingers against Harry’s placket on his pants, waiting. He blinked, wide green eyes, before nodding vigorously, his exhale a heavy moan of _Severus_ as he slid the zipper down.

Harry was beautiful, absolutely exquisite, his skin smooth and golden, cock thickening under Severus’ dark eyes. Reverently, he traced fingertips lightly over the velvety skin, smearing precome and caressing Harry’s heavy sack. He glanced up the line of Harry’s body, his shirt crumpled, throat bared, head tiled back between his shoulders. That wouldn’t do at all; Severus needed those stunning green eyes on him, needed to feel their weight as he worshipped the form before him.

“Watch me, Harry.” Severus’ voice was dark and husky, and felt Harry shudder under his hands, cock thickening and twitching.

Grasping the base, Severus waited for Harry’s glazed green eyes to look down on him before flicking his tongue out. The younger man was musky and salty, the tang curling his tongue a little, but it was the whimper that slipped from Harry’s throat that caught his attention. He could see Harry’s hands tangling in the duvet as he licked again, tracing over the length and around the head.

The cock in his hand throbbed and, unable to resist any longer, Severus slid his lips over the cockhead, suckling gently, before sliding down further. Harry moaned loudly as the head of his cock nudged the back of Severus’ throat. It sat heavy on his tongue, filling his mouth perfectly. Settling into a comfortable rhythm, it was only a matter of minutes before Harry came down his throat abruptly. The warm wetness, the stimulation was all too much for his inexperienced mind to handle.

* * *

Harry’s mind was in a haze as that tongue lovingly cleaned him up, tucking him away in his pants. His trousers were fully removed, and shirt extracted from around his elbows before Severus shuffled him up the bed.

Once they were curled up together in the warmth, Harry’s embarrassment returned with force.

“I’m sorry.” He mumbled into his husbands’ bare shoulder.

“What on earth for?” Severus rumbled in reply.

“I came so fast, I’m sorry you have to deal with me. Maybe I should have fooled around a little, gotten some experience through the year. I just… every time I considered doing anything with anyone else it felt wrong. But now I can’t help but think how frustrating this is for you, having to teach me everything.” Harry blurted, tracing patterns over Severus’ bare chest and abdomen, realising that the man was still hard when his hand accidentally brushed past.

He flushed deeply. “You didn’t even get off!” Harry scrambled to try and do something, anything to make it up to the older man but the arm wrapped around his shoulders and waist tightened.

“Harry, calm down. I am happy that you are untouched, I enjoy seeing your responses. I wish you wouldn’t worry so much about it all.” Severus admonished. “I don’t always need to get off, but I was thinking, perhaps you could watch me get myself off, see what I like done?”

He barely had to think about it before nodding, face pressed into Severus’ chest. Long fingers wrapped around his hand, dragging it down so he could feel as the older man wrapped his hand around his own cock and coating it in slick with a wandless spell.

“Spelled lubricant doesn’t work as well or last as long, but for these purposes, it will suffice.” His voice was perfectly calm, and Harry closed his eyes, focusing on feeling the hand as it stroked.

Allowing his sense of touch to take over, Harry felt the long slow glides as his husband began gently working himself up. He felt as Severus played with the head, running a nail gently along the ridge caused a sharp inhale. He felt as the palm rubbed over and around the tip, calluses causing stimulation. The hand slipped down to caress and fondle tight balls, tugging and rolling them gently. He felt as Severus slowly lost himself to the pleasure while Harry was pulled along for the ride.

He began hardening again himself, his cock pressed against Severus’ hip. Rocking against him in tandem with the stroking, he felt as Severus crept closer to climax, movements getting rougher, more demanding. Soon, Severus was fucking his fist, hips jerking as Harry rutted against him. Crying out, Severus came, capturing it in his hand as Harry continued working himself to a second orgasm against his hip. The hand slipped up his chest before come coated fingers pressed against Harry’s parted lips. Opening his mouth wider, Harry moaned as they slipped in, suckling the come off as his own orgasm ripped through him.

Panting, the pair drifted in their own orgasmic hazes before coming down gently.

“I take it you enjoyed that then?” Severus murmured in his ear, waving his hand to clean them both up.

Harry could only flush and nod, silence settled comfortably over the pair as they drifted to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so there has been some concern that Severus has been to see Isaac since he and Harry got bonded. Let me say categorically, that he has not, that if he had been to see Isaac at some point, I would have mentioned it. That's not the sort of plot point that gets swept under the rug. It has been about a week since they got bonded so it is feasible that Severus' appointment with Isaac would not have come due.
> 
> Nevertheless, I give you something that turned out to be much more anticipated than I expected.

* * *

It was after lunch the next day when Severus worked up the nerve to tell Harry what he needed to do. It was Sunday and he had an appointment with Isaac that evening. Of course, he had been considering cancelling it prior to their bonding, but it would be awkward nonetheless. Harry had been surprisingly calm about the whole thing throughout the year, much to his surprise. They had not really spoken of it beyond the initial acknowledgement, and he noticed that he never saw Harry on Thursdays or Sundays during the term.

With a sigh, Severus turned to his husband, who was quietly reading by the fire.

“Harry.” He waited for green eyes to look up. “I have an appointment this evening that I must cancel.” There was no flare of recognition, only a look of waiting. Sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose be tried once more. “It is Sunday, I am to see Isaac tonight. I have to go to the Manor to cancel the appointment and my account.”

He watched the emotions playing over Harry’s face. Surprise, hurt, worry; before it all smoothed out into a polite smile.

“Of course.” The younger man went back to his book.

“I’ll return in an hour.” Severus rose.

Harry looked up at him, deep sadness and insecurity filling those eyes. “Take your time, there is no hurry. Do what you need to.”

Severus had to resist the urge to snort, the impertinent brat was giving him license to have one last romp he was sure. Smirking, he swooped down to lavish a passionate kiss on unsuspecting lips. When he withdrew, the younger man looked slightly dazed.

“I will be back within the hour.” He confirmed, a mute nod all he got in return.

Severus floo’d to the Manor, stepping out, he brushed soot from his robes and was greeted by the same hostess he always was.

“Good afternoon, Master Snape. You are early, your appointment isn’t until later this evening and unfortunately, Isaac is busy currently. He should be free in another half an hour if you would like to wait?” She queried politely.

“Unfortunately, I will need to cancel my appointment with Isaac and close my account, circumstances have changed in my life.” He replied.

The woman blinked but made no other response, withdrawing a stack of paperwork and ushering him into a nearby office. Setting to, he saw it was similar to the last time he had cancelled his account, filling out all the details and in the comments section assured the proprietor that he was satisfied with the services but was no longer able to partake. There was a charge of course, for the late cancellation or the appointment but otherwise, he was completed within ten minutes.

Tidying everything up, he moved back to the hostess and handed back the pile. “I would like to see Isaac before I leave, please have him come see me in the bar when he is finished.”

The woman assured him that Isaac would be there shortly.

Severus ordered his whiskey and settled at the bar, mulling over how much his life had changed in a week. He had been bonded to the man he cared for a year earlier than he had even expected to begin a relationship. He knew there would be problems, Harry was still damaged from his childhood and was painfully self-conscious. While it was frustrating, it was also endearing. Seeing how the simplest thing would bring the man off was certainly good for Severus’ ego and the fact he was always ready to go again quickly meant that there was little to no impact on their love life.

He had no idea how the next year was going to go, being a teacher and Head of House meant that he had more duties than many others. Harry would have to employ all of his sneaking abilities so that they would be able to see each other, let alone anything else. Severus was dragged from his musing by his name being called. Looking up, Isaac was striding towards him with a smile. The man was as attractive as always, but now that he had Harry in his life, he could only muster friendly feelings towards the other man.

“Your appointment isn’t until later. Has something happened?” Isaac settled himself on a nearby barstool.

“Yes, something has happened.” He couldn’t help the smile that quirked his lips as he intentionally clinked his wedding band against the whiskey glass.

Isaac’s eyes immediately shot to it, widening before they flicked up again. “I thought you had to wait another year?” He queried.

“So did I, circumstances changed significantly which meant that Bonding was required a year sooner. It is all legal and consensual of course. There were external pressures trying to force my new husband into an unwilling contract with another party. Of course I was quite willing to step in and claim what was mine earlier to ensure that nothing could get between us again.” Severus knew he looked insufferably smug.

Isaac laughed. “Of course. I have some idea of whom it could possibly be, but I won’t ask, ignorance is preferable, I think. Well, I will miss you, Severus, I have enjoyed our sessions but am glad you can finally have what you want. I wish you both all the happiness in the world.”

“At some point, I am sure the news will leak, and you will have whatever suspicions you have confirmed.” Severus rose, finishing off his whiskey.

Isaac gave the man a hug. “Now get back to your husband before he suspects!” The younger man swatted Severus on the bum.

Chuckling, Severus swept out, floo'ing back to the manor with the intention of showing his new husband just how much he preferred his company to that of Isaac.

* * *

The next day, during his morning run, Harry couldn’t help but muse over the previous day. Severus had informed him following lunch that he had to go to the Manor. He had known on some level that the man had not been to see Isaac since they had bonded, they had rarely spent much time apart, instead revelling in their growing intimacy. The only time they were not together was when Severus disappeared to brew and Harry worked on his estate. It had barely been a week and the niggling thought had crept in that perhaps the appointment had not come up yet.

He had been correct apparently, though Severus had seemed happy to go to the Manor, insisting he was cancelling his membership. Harry was still a little awkward with the sexual side of their relationship, though he revelled in the growing intimacy and had thoroughly enjoyed their previous evening. He had tried to remain nonchalant, insisting that Severus could do what he needed, trying to bury the devastation it would have wrought in him should Severus had sought sex with Isaac now.

Severus had insisted that he would be back within the hour and had snogged him senseless before departing. Harry had tried to concentrate on his book but ended pacing around the sitting room, watching the clock nervously. Half an hour had trickled by and he had worked to resign himself to the realities of a loveless marriage, no matter how wonderful their previous night had been. It had been edging on 45 minutes when the floo had flared green and Severus had stepped out. He had been completely unruffled, and when Harry hugged him, he couldn’t smell anyone else on him.

Within minutes of Severus returning, he had pinned Harry to the wall by the fireplace and snogged him senseless once more. Harry had realised in that moment, that Severus was really his. That he had kept his word and had not been intimate with Isaac. His heart swelled at the memory of how they had curled up together on the couch, reading, drinking tea and occasionally exchanging lazy kisses. It was everything he could have asked for.

During breakfast, Harry received a letter from Hogrod requesting that he come into Gringotts for a health exam. It had come to the goblins' attention that Harry had never received a proper scan which is done regularly for all heirs and lords to ensure they are not under any external influences. The health scan would also indicate whether there were any lingering effects from his childhood abuse or repeated exposure to Voldemort.

Once he had finished eating, he farewelled Severus with a light kiss, the man was planning to spend the day brewing, before making his way to Hogrods office who immediately escorted him to the healing halls.

“Please change into this ritual robe and wait in the centre of the room beyond the door. The ritual is non-invasive. If you feel any pain, please advise us immediately as it should not hurt. There may be some… odd feelings, but nothing should hurt.” The healer waited for his acknowledgement before handing over the robe and ushering him into the room.

Stripping down, he neatly folded his clothes on a shelf just inside the door and draped the plain cotton robe over himself. He was grateful that he didn’t have to be naked for this. Striding to stand in the middle of the room, he could see runes and other symbols carved in ever increasing circles around him.

Within minutes, six goblins stepped into the room and spaced themselves evenly around him.

“Please remain as still as possible. You may move once the chant is finished.” One of the healers commented.

The next moment, they extended their arms to the sides, opening them wide to create a broken circle around him. Their voices started quiet, a foreign dialect full of rough sounds and odd twists of the tongue.

He could feel the magic growing, thickening in the air as their chanting gradually grew louder.

It began licking at his skin, crawling over him.

As it grew in volume, the pattern changed and the lapping of magic over his skin began seeping in. It felt like every millimetre, every atom of his being was being touched.

Their voices created an exquisite harmony, light and dark, high and low, heavy and light. Their magic flooded his body and he struggled to remain still as he felt it was over him from toes to hair tips.

He wasn’t sure how long he was wrapped up in and filled by their magic before it began gently ebbing away. He shuddered out the breath he didn’t realise he was holding as the magic left his body.

When their voices finally stopped, he sank to the ground, shivering and sweating. It didn’t hurt, but the healer had been correct, that had to have been one of the oddest experiences of his life. He felt a hand at his shoulder and blinked up blearily to see a goblin offering his hand. Grasping it, Harry wobbled to his feet. He was shown to a chair he hadn’t noticed before, sinking down gratefully.

“Lord Potter, we have the results of your exam, if you are able to discuss them now?” The healer held out a glass of water which he gulped down.

“Yes, please.”

“Well you still have some lingering issues with your bones, I am going to recommend a course of a mild bone repairing potion that will help rectify the residual damage from your malnourishment. Other than that, the potions that you have been taking over the last year and a half have done wonders for your organs.

“We did note that there was evidence of Black magic, centred around where your scar used to reside. It had the magical signature of one Tom Marvolo Riddle. The Black magic is gone and has been for about a year now. And almost all of the residue has left. The remainder should fade on its own before the start of the school year. I would recommend allowing it to run its course rather than trying to purge it. A purge would do more harm than good at this stage.

“Other than that you seem to be perfectly healthy. Here is the name of the potion you will need for your bones. I would recommend taking a dose before bed every night for two weeks. You will be able to sleep through the discomfort. Though, please do not take any sleeping potions while you are consuming this bone potion. The ingredients tend to interact poorly.”

“Thank you, may your healing flourish.” Harry offered.

“And may your health always remain true, Lord Potter.” The healer acknowledged.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so due to popular comment, I have elected to remove Severus giving Isaac his business card in the last chapter. It wasn't going to amount to anything, and I can admit you guys had a point that Harry would probably be hurt by the gesture even if Severus only meant it in a business sense. Because really, who would need regular specialty potions as much as a prostitute?
> 
> I can reassure you all that bar a single brief reappearance during the next part, Isaac will not return to the story. He won't be selling his story; not only would it violate the secrecy contracts, but it would also ruin his reputation, no one wants a prostitute who will roll on his clients for money.
> 
> In the comments on the last chapter, there was a lively debate between me and another commenter over how much of a wanker Severus is. If you are the sort interested in spoilers, check out the thread, I dropped some hints on the relationship progression of Harry and Severus.
> 
> A fair warning to everyone, it will be another year before Severus has an epiphany of sorts and gets his shit together for Harry, so brace yourselves for a shitty year.
> 
> Anyway, on with the chapter! we kick off with some smut and finish with a major plot point!

* * *

_Gringotts escapes Ministry Oversight once more_

_As readers will recall, Minister Dumbledore recently demanded that Gringotts carry out and submit a full audit of all accounts held by wizards. A previously overlooked clause written late into the Treaty was believed to permit the Ministry to request audits of all wizarding vaults under the pretence of checking for theft or corruption within Gringotts._

_When approached, a spokesgoblin for Gringotts advised that they had submitted the associated paperwork for the appropriate wizarding vaults to the Ministry within days of the request being submitted. The spokesgoblin reassured the press that they had been happy to comply with the Ministerial request. Stating that “Goblinkind are always on the side of the law. When the Ministry submits a reasonable and legal request, we oblige. We will not permit fear-mongering or an assault on our freedoms or the freedoms of our clients when it is not legal.”_

_This intrepid reporter investigated further as it has now been over a week since the documentation was supposedly submitted by Gringotts and there has been no further announcement or comment from the Ministry. It has been discovered that our assumed definition of a wizarding vault is different from the goblins definition, leaving the Ministry open to the move the goblins have just made._

_Some may be aware that certain wizarding families rent a vault from Gringotts in order to enjoy the facilities available but place their own protections over the vault instead of using the protections normally provided by the goblins. As such, only those vaults which have wizarding magic layered over them are considered ‘wizarding vaults’ while all of the rest are ‘goblin vaults’._

_In an embarrassing move, the Ministry has only managed to gain the vault information for a select few light wing families who insist on holding a wizarding vault instead of a traditional goblin vault._

_It is safe to say that those with a goblin vault can enjoy the full protection of the goblin nation as was always provided and expected._

* * *

Another few days slipped by, Harry whiling away his time reviewing his portfolios and corresponding with Hogrod, as well as completing his summer homework and studying for the accelerated Arithmancy and Ancient Runes program. He found deep comfort, every evening, sharing a bed with Severus, they were growing more comfortable with each other and ensured they shared breakfast each day. Sometimes Harry got lost in study or Severus in brewing which caused them to miss lunch or dinner, but they always made sure to share breakfast. It became their time to connect, to talk and spend time learning each other in such an intimate and quiet setting.

They were eating dinner out on the back deck, enjoying the mild evening now that the sun had gone down, taking with it the heat.

“I have to attend a staff meeting tomorrow afternoon at Hogwarts. I was wondering if you would be willing to come with me in the morning down into the Chamber, once completed, we could lunch at the Three Broomsticks in one of their private rooms and you could come home while I head back for the meeting.” Severus offered as he sipped his wine.

“Sounds perfect, I wanted to explore the Chamber a little more while you harvest the Basilisk. I am sure that Salazar would have had a private chamber somewhere down there and I am determined to find it. Also, since I spoke with Hogrod about the beast, he has been pestering me about providing the initial harvest for sale.” Harry laughed softly, the goblin mentioned it in every letter he sent.

They continued chatting a little more about the school and their days as they slowly drank their wine and ate their meals.

“Are you finished?” The older man asked, finishing off his wine and pushing away his empty plate. Harry nodded and copied him, rising, the pair headed towards the sitting room, but part the way there, Harry changed his mind. Instead, he towed his husband towards the bedroom.

When Severus opened his mouth to ask what was going on, Harry kissed him soundly, beginning the process of undressing the other man. He slipped his tongue along the older man’s bottom lip as he unbuttoned his shirt, sliding it off strong shoulders. Trailing his fingers back up Severus' arms, the man took the opportunity to reach up and tangle his hands in Harry's hair, deepening the kiss as Harry thumbed a nipple. His other hand dropped to Severus' belt, working it open one-handed until he could push the older man's trousers to the ground.

Harry tore his mouth away, gasping for breath before dropping to his knees and tugged Severus' pants down, freeing his hardening cock to bounce by Harry's cheek. Glancing up, he relished the surprised expression flittering across his husbands’ face. Sliding his hands up Severus' thighs, he wrapped one around the base of the flushed cock before him and gave it a tentative stroke.

Casting his mind back, Harry tried to remember what had been done to him a few days ago. So, gathering up his Gryffindor courage, he swiped his tongue over the tip, lapping up the precome smeared over it. It wasn't terrible, he had had worse things before. Shrugging, Harry set to, sliding his tongue over the magnificent cock in front of him.

When Harry finally slipped his mouth over the tip, sucking gently, he felt long fingers slide into his hair. Glancing up, he saw Severus watching avidly as he began slowly sliding down, easing a bit more into his mouth. Pulling away a little, he repeated the motion, each time getting more in. There was something deeply intimate about being this close to Severus, having him fill his mouth, moaning and whining above him. Harry could feel his thighs shaking under his palms as he worked.

He glanced up to see Severus looking down at him, pupils blown wide, face filled with pleasure and affection. Eventually, he felt a thumb stroke his cheekbone and could see the mounting tension in his husband’s expression. Rather than pulling away, Harry gave a firm suck the next time he sucked up Severus’s cock and the man came with a gasped _Harry_.

Harry swallowed everything he could but unused to the experience, he spluttered a little, feeling the come sliding down his chin. Licking Severus clean, the man staggered back to the bed, sinking down and gazing at Harry, a little wonder in his eyes. Giving the older man a cheeky grin, Harry quickly unbuttoned his trousers and it only took a few stroked before he was spilling over his hand. Undressing fully, Harry coaxed his husband into bed where they curled up to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, the pair woke separately, as had been their growing habit. They went through their individual routines before eventually meeting at the breakfast table. They quietly broke their fast, sharing the morning paper and commenting on the absurdities of the Wizarding World to their mutual dismay and amusement.

Severus disappeared into his lab for a moment, gathering together a few last-minute things he would need for their first harvest. Harry disappeared into his study and gathered a notebook where he had transposed his notes on the different doorways and sketches in the chamber as well as a new self-inking quill. Harry also grabbed his cloak from where he had tossed it in the bedroom before meeting up with Severus in the entryway. Donning the cloak, Severus apparated the pair of them away to Hogsmeade and Harry made a mental note to go to the Ministry tomorrow to get his Apparition license.

The pair quietly made their way to Hogwarts, Harry layering spells over himself so that he would be undetectable once they were inside the castle. The pair headed, as quietly as they could, to Severus’ quarters, knowing that it would be the easiest to explain away if they were seen.

Thankfully no one was about, and Harry could open the secret passage at the back of the alcove by the Potion Master’s quarters without any issued. Severus immediately walked over to the Basilisk and began removing things from his bag. Conjuring a table, he began laying out all the supplies for harvesting and storing the creature before getting to work.

Shuddering at the grisly work, Harry turned away, instead, moving towards the giant statue at the end of the chamber. Carved feet rested on the floor while the body and head disappeared into the gloom above. Shuddering, he dived into his recollections; Riddle had called out and the mouth of the statue had opened, but that was way above and entirely impractical for someone to reach. He couldn’t imagine Salazar Slytherin accepting having to climb to reach his private quarters. Perhaps that was just for the basilisk, perhaps there was something at ground level for the old wizard.

Stepping up, he cast a _Lumos Minima_ and began searching around the feet of the statue. There was a repeating pattern of serpents along the hem of the giant robe, but nothing stood out until he spotted a snake that was slightly different, tucked along the side of a giant foot.

_Open, _he hissed, but nothing happened, frowning, he tried _Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four_ and heard the mouth groaning open up above. Glaring up at it, he went back to the serpent, sure that he had found the spot. Trailing his fingers over the snake he tried to think of what else the password could be.

Before he could try something else, he felt a hand grip his shoulder and was yanked around to look at an irate Potions Master.

“What are you doing?” He hissed.

“I’m trying to find Salazar Slytherin’s private quarters. I’ve been trying different passwords but nothing has worked as yet. One of them activated where the basilisk used to live.” Harry gestured upwards.

Curiosity sparked in dark orbs and the grip on his shoulder eased into something more affectionate. “What have you tried so far?”

“Well, I found this snake which is different to the others on the trim, so far I have only tried open and the password Riddle used to open the basilisk chamber.” Harry pointed with his lit wand to the snake.

Severus leant past him, peering at the carving. “That looks like an ashwinder, the markings on its head are quite distinctive. Perhaps try that?”

Harry beamed at the man and, peering at the carving, hissed _ashwinder_.

Suddenly there was a groaning sound and the edge of the statues ankle and heel slid open like a door, exchanging a glance, Harry ventured forth while Severus snorted, advising he was returning to his harvesting but he would come to fetch Harry in half an hour when he was done. He gave a little wave as he disappeared into the darkened doorway, wand held aloft.

As soon as he stepped into the room, a fire off to his right roared into life, filling the room with a merry glow. There were a few comfortable looking chairs scattered around which were caked in dust and a little mould. There were a few tables and in little alcoves around the room, he could see different artefacts and keepsakes. There were another four doors, evenly spaced around the back of the room, two on either side of the fireplace.

Going to the first, he cracked the door open to see a mouldering bed, with another door to the left which assumedly led to a bathroom. Closing the door, he moved onto the next, discovering it was an access door to what was apparently the basilisk's chamber if the abundance of shed skin was anything to go by. He made a mental note to tell Severus so he could collect it all if he wanted. Who knew what else was tucked up there.

The third door tingled under his fingers and when he opened the door, he could almost taste the layered preservation charms on the room. Judging by the large fireplace and massive cauldron, as well as the benches with varying sized cauldrons lined up, this was the potions lab. Opposite the door was a series of cabinets. Striding up to the first, he found another dozen or so layers of preservation charms over it. He could feel the edges of other charms that must have failed over the years, Harry couldn’t help but marvel at the amount of magic that went into trying to keep the room whole and in one piece for whoever came next.

Cracking open the door, he could see dozens upon dozens of glass jars and vials, stacks of earthenware containers, and heaps of fabric pouches, all of which looked full, whole and untainted. Astonished, he decided not to touch anything more, leaving it for Severus to work out. While Harry was happy to acknowledge how he had improved in Potions, he was still only a brewer, he would never be a Master like his husband.

Leaving the lab behind, he walked to the final door. There was another batch of preservation charms over the door, not as many as the lab, but still quite a few. Walking in, Harry found himself in a small circular room. As he stepped over the threshold, a large chandelier burst into life above him, lighting the library in a beautiful glow. Books wrapped around the walls, crammed in on the shelves, rising up to the top of the ten-foot ceilings. A ladder ran on a rail attached to the case so that you could reach the books at the top. In the centre of the room was a comfortable armchair and a large desk.

Scattered over the desk were books and parchments, a quill still sitting in the ink pot, as if Salazar had stepped out for a cup of tea and hadn’t yet returned. Everything was perfectly preserved, frozen at the moment after the door had closed and Harry could barely breathe with amazement. So much knowledge, information, lost lore was here, had been here all along. Now it was all his. He sat down at the desk, picking up the nearest book and began flicking through.

Harry had no idea how much time had passed while he had been ensconced in Salazar’s library, but he was pulled from his reading when Severus called his name. Rising, he wandered towards the outer room, still reading the current passage of the book that had been discussing the potions taught to fourth-year students while Salazar was a teacher at Hogwarts. Eventually, he finished and looked up to see Severus peering curiously at him from the outer door while Harry lent against the doorframe of the library.

“Oh! You have to see this! You’ll love it!” Harry exclaimed, tucking the book under his arm and moving over to the lab door, beckoning Severus closer.

Cautiously, the man followed him into the room and Harry stood back to appreciate the look of wonder and greed that washed over the man's face. Severus turned hungry eyes on Harry who grinned.

“Have at it, you’ll have more use of this stuff than I will. But fair warning, I have first dibs on the library.” He teased, grinning as gratitude was swiftly followed by petulance. “Of course I am willing to share, but I want to get the first go at the library. The cabinets seem to have potions ingredients still in them. Some of them might still be good considering the preservation charms layered over the cupboards. So go on.”

“Unfortunately, we cannot today, you have to get back to the manor while I need to get up to the staff meeting, already we have been too long and will no longer be able to have lunch at the Three Broomsticks. You will have to floo back to the manor on your own while I head upstairs.”

Harry pouted a little but conceded defeat. They would return, Harry would be able to come back here whenever he liked for the next year. If he went and purchased a library trunk, he could fill it and take all the books back. Perhaps there was a spell of some kind which would allow him to copy all of the books and leave the originals here for the next heir to discover.

He allowed himself to be ushered out by Severus, noting the man cast longing looks behind himself as they left. The external door slid closed behind them, the fire guttering out as they stepped over the threshold. All too soon, Harry was wandering back into Hogsmeade under his cloak, alone, pondering what he was going to do for the next few hours while Severus was at his meeting.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I vanished for a bit. To be honest, I was depressed. Some commenters were getting to me and I just couldn't cope. Every time I thought of posting another chapter I wanted to cry, so I took a step away for a while. Thankfully I stumbled across an excellent crackfic that made me laugh. It took me another few days to get angry that people were making me doubt my own work. Then I decided to re-read this part and see if there were any grounds for complaint. I made some minor adjustments, added in a little here and there from chapter 6 onwards, but nothing exciting. It did end up resulting in the chapters shuffling back a bit, so the first second below is what used to finish off the last chapter.
> 
> I don't know if I will be able to respond to comments, apparently speculation and criticism get me down when it is aimed at something I have spent hours upon hours working on. Apparently I have a heart? Who knew.
> 
> Anyway, I have an interesting note. During my minor holiday to get my feelings at a more healthy level, I ended up having a massive theoretical discussion with my husband resulting in a whole new plot line being worked in starting in the next part. So that is exciting, and it will ensure that everything makes more sense down the line. Unfortunately it means I now have to re-work parts 5, 6 and 7 which were all completed, but hopefully it wont take too much to get it all twisted together once more.
> 
> I guess, on with the chapter?

* * *

“It has been my decision as Headmistress, with the support of the Ministry, that Slytherin House shall be disbanded henceforth. It is a radical move, but we believe that by integrating the Slytherin students into the other houses, we will prevent the proliferation of the Dark. No longer will Slytherin House offer a haven, a den iniquity, in which the Dark Arts can bloom. This is not up for debate, not open for discussion.” Minerva stopped speaking, casting a steely eye over the assembled professors.

Severus couldn’t breathe. They were disbanding his house, removing his students and scattering them throughout the school. They were going to be devoured whole, empty husks left behind. Severus would have wondered if this was retaliation from Dumbledore for his marrying Harry, but he knew the man was unaware of his involvement.

“Now, as the Sorting Hat will no longer be useful, instead we will spend the week prior meeting with the students, the Head of House will assess each student for the best house in which to place them and a consensus will be reached.”

Severus was blindsided, Minerva hadn’t even bothered to warn him of this move. Though warning him might not have served much good. Instead, he kept his face blank and his mouth shut. No longer was he anyone beyond the Potions Professor. He hoped he could survive this year, then he would make his escape. As much as he loathed the idea of deserting his snakes, he would have to accept that they were no longer his.

“Now, the changes we implemented last year were generally successful, please spend the next week thinking over any feedback you may have to share at next week’s staff meeting. I mentioned last year that we were considering the History course and the efficacy of having Professor Binns teaching it. On review of the grades in comparison to the other wizarding schools, it has been decided that Professor Binns will be retired. I am currently in the process of negotiating with a new Professor whom I believe will take to the role well.”

The woman paused, looking around the room before shuffling her notes. “As we look to re-evaluate and revitalise the History course, it is time to admit that our Muggle Studies course is also terribly outdated. As such, Charity, I wish to meet with you tomorrow so that we may begin looking over the course closely for where we can improve it.

“We have also decided it is time for the apprenticeship programme to be reinstated at Hogwarts. It is criminal that students must travel overseas for their Masteries and as such you will all be encouraged to take on an Apprentice to aid you all. Your Apprentice should be able to assist with your lower-level classes, freeing you all up to focus more on the more senior years which require more specialised assistance. If any of you know of a suitable student who is interested in pursuing their Mastery for this coming academic year, then please arrange for them to present an application as soon as possible. Alternatively, I would recommend reviewing your seventh-year class this year to see if any would be interested in stepping into the position for next year.

“I expect that all of you will have an apprentice lined up to support you by this time next year. For those who are Heads, we have been granted dispensation by the Board of Governors to get assistants in addition to the Apprentice programme. Assistants will be mostly administrative and will hopefully take some of the pressure off with dealing with your individual houses. They do not need to have a Mastery in your subject, though it is recommended that they either be a student that belongs to the house you look after or have a high-level NEWT in the subject you teach. Again, arrange for the interested party to submit an application.

“Speaking of Masters and Apprentices, a new requirement will be instituted next school year where all teachers will be required to have a Mastery in their required field as well as a teaching qualification. Some of the existing staff are missing one or both of these and so, I request that those this impacts meet with me before the beginning of the term to discuss a learning plan. I know that achieving a Mastery or a teaching qualification while working in a year is a bit much to ask, but with the experience gained during tenure here, we are willing to accept if the staff member has made significant headway to accomplish their missing qualifications. With the addition of support staff to most positions, there is no reason why you all can't achieve the required qualifications within a reasonable time frame.

“If you elect to not meet these requirements, you will not be welcomed back as a teacher at Hogwarts next year. No longer will we permit those who are not made for teaching to remain and influence the next generation of witches and wizards.”

Severus did everything he could to not look at the woman. He did not have a teaching qualification and everyone knew that he was not teaching material. At least he would be permitted to see out the school year, after which he was planning on leaving anyway.

“There will be, again, a certain amount of teething issues, but I am sure with patience and hard work, we can succeed. Now, let us discuss how the year will proceed.”

* * *

“Malfoy Manor!” Severus cried into the floo at the Three Broomsticks before sticking his head in. His head popped out in the floo room of the manor and a house-elf appeared.

“Please get your master, I need to speak with him urgently. It is Severus Snape.” Snape cut in before the creature could stutter or gush at him. It nodded and popped away. Minutes stretched until finally, he could hear footsteps.

“Severus? What’s wrong?” Lucius strode into the room.

“Lucius, something has happened and it is critical you get the word out. I would not normally call on you like this, but please, permit me to explain.” Severus replied. While they had been friends of a sort while Death Eaters and had been communicating over the past year with the changes that had been happening, their relationship was not overly cordial.

Lucius immediately waved him through, stepping out of the fireplace, Severus dusted himself off.

“I have just come from a staff meeting at Hogwarts. As we have observed, the Ministry has been cracking down on the dark faction, slowly squeezing out the power and control you once wielded. As we have discussed, Slytherins have been slowly leaving Britain, taking what assets they once had and departing for greener pastures.” Severus paused, checking to ensure the blonde was listening.

“I want to take this moment to express my hope that you never believed I was Dumbledore’s man, as he liked to once claim. I lost faith in the Dark Lord, yes, when his madness claimed him towards the end of his first reign. But I was forced into service as a spy, forced to serve two masters that I now realise are both mad.” He paused, hesitating.

“Get to the point please Severus, I do not see why we have to rehash what we are both aware of. You said this was important?” The man’s tone wasn’t quite impatient.

“Minerva, with the support of the Ministry, has decided to retire the Sorting Hat and abolish Slytherin house.” He allowed that to sink in, watching the dawning horror on the other man's face.

“The existing Slytherins will be assessed and resorted before the beginning of the school year. This will change things for many of the dark families. I imagine more will elect to leave rather than face the growing prejudice in Britain. I hope that you will put the word out so that the families are not blindsided like I was.” Severus inclined his head, turning to leave before Lucius’ voice stopped him.

“Severus, stay, have a drink with me. Perhaps I was… too harsh with you since the fall of the Dark Lord. I believe we have much to discuss.”

He turned back, assessing the other man. Lucius seemed genuine in his request, worry creasing the corners of his mouth. Nodding, he followed the blonde to his office. He knew it was likely that they would be able to track this information leak back to him, but no one had told him not to share it. He had to do what little he could for his snakes while he was able.

They settled in Lucius’ study, both sipping a glass of aged Firewhiskey. They chatted about what was going to happen now, about the plans that the Dark would need to make.

“Lucius, I cannot leave, at the very least not for a little while. I am needed here, I must protect the remaining Slytherins at the school; I am the only one who can.”

“Severus, I never expected you to be the self-sacrificing sort.” The other man smirked. “There is immense demand around the world for qualified Potions Masters, you could leave and start a new life elsewhere.”

Severus shook his head. He would remain as long as Harry did. He did not see Harry abandoning Britain just yet. “I must remain. Though I imagine that over the next year, most of the dark faction will depart Britain. Do you have any contacts with the Neutral?”

“Of course I do, I have connections everywhere Severus. Greengrass is currently leading the neutral faction, but I am afraid they probably won't entertain you, Severus. You are as dark as I am, even if you have been marked as a hero of sorts."

Severus shook his head, an idea forming. "I know they would not meet with me, at least not alone. But perhaps if it were someone else, someone they couldn't refuse…"

Lucius’ eyes turned sly. "Severus, old friend, what are you plotting?"

"I am unsure, I will need to discuss things with… others. But the situation cannot be left to degenerate. While my hands are tied for the next year, I may have some wriggle room after to try and affect change…" He trailed off.

Lucius watched him, a small flicker of hope in his eyes. "Once you have a plan, come see me again, I will offer what assistance I can."

Severus inclined his head, finishing his glass and taking his leave.

* * *

Harry was sitting quietly by the fire reading the fourth-year potions book he had taken from Salazar’s library. He had arrived home a few hours ago after their little harvesting trip. Severus had warned that staff meetings often ran late and made the suggestion not to wait up.

It had been a bit over a week since their bonding on his birthday and he couldn't help but think back over what had happened. He had easily settled into Prince Manor, falling in love with the property.

He had been surprised by his own unsureness at consummating their union. He had dreamt of it for the past year, but it was hard to believe that they were now free to do as they pleased. Severus had been patient, introducing him to the pleasures of the flesh, exploring together what he was comfortable with. They had explored each other with hands and mouths but as yet had not joined together fully.

He was still embarrassed by how readily he responded, how quickly he finished. Severus tried to assure him that it was simply an issue of his youth and inexperience and would ease with time. Somehow, Harry didn't find that reassuring at all. Irrespective, Harry could feel his growing readiness and hoped, soon, that the last of his hesitation would fade and he could finally give his husband what he had been waiting for.

Harry was torn from his musing when Severus stalked into the room. Something was off, the man didn’t notice Harry sitting quietly. He strode to a cabinet at the side of the room, retrieving a small tumbler and a decanter. Splashing a generous amount into the glass, Harry watched as Severus savoured the taste, moving over to lean against the mantle.

Evidently, the man was not going to notice Harry any time soon. "Severus?"

He jerked around, eyes widening to see Harry ensconced in the wingback by the fire, open book in his lap.

"Everything alright?" Harry continued when it seemed Severus wasn't going to speak.

The other man sighed, taking another swallow of scotch before slumping in the other armchair. "No Harry, things are very wrong."

Harry tracked the movements as Severus took another swallow, watching as his throat worked.

"Slytherin has been disbanded. The existing students are to be reallocated throughout the other houses, the sorting hat is to be retired. New students will be assessed by the Heads of House and allocated accordingly."

"Merlin…" Harry breathed. This was a big step, he didn't want to believe they would go this far, but Dumbledore was a zealot and McGonagall was a fanatical follower. "They will be destroyed!" The school would tear the Slytherins apart once they were separated.

"Yes, I believe that is the idea. I went to see Lucius, to warn him of what was coming. Hopefully, he will get the word out. I imagine the Slytherins returning this school year will be significantly diminished."

"I'll tell Hermione, we will protect whoever ends up in Gryffindor. The other lions will eat them alive."

"I imagine most will end up in Ravenclaw. There, at least, they will only be shunned."

Harry hummed in agreement as he observed the tension in the other man. Rising, he moved to kneel in front of the Potions Master. Glancing up, he found curious black orbs watching as Harry began unlacing his boots. Removing them and his socks, Harry summoned a vial of oil. Slicking up his hands, he began gently working the tense flesh. The feet were long, pale and elegant. Harry had never had a thing for feet, but like every other part of Severus, he had learned to care for it all deeply. He heard Severus sigh as his thumbs tracked over the arch of his foot, fingers working and stretching the tired muscles.

"After you graduate, what would you think of approaching the neutral faction?" Severus' voice was soft and husky. "By then most of the dark will have abandoned Britain and Dumbledore will most likely start encroaching on neutral territory. I expect he will be flush with success at driving out the dark and will believe because the neutral has allowed him to run mostly unchallenged that they won't challenge him at all."

Harry worked the man's toes until they were pliant, tugging and stretching each digit.

"What Dumbledore has failed to realise, is that the neutral faction is larger than either the light or the dark. They will not take kindly to his encroachment on their territory."

Finishing with his foot, Harry slid his hands inside the older man's pant leg and began slowly making his way up his calves, kneading the tight muscle.

Severus moaned softly before continuing. "As frustrating as it is, we cannot do anything to help the dark at this stage. We must wait for Dumbledore to turn his eyes to the neutral faction, then we can approach Greengrass and offer our aid and knowledge. They will not be able to refuse you."

Releasing the left leg, Harry began giving the right the same treatment. Severus fell quiet while Harry worked and when he glanced up while kneading his calf, he found half-lidded dark orbs fixated on him. Flushing, Harry looked away, finishing the massage and rising.

"Bed, I think. You can plot tomorrow." A cheeky smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To say that I have been overwhelmed and blow away by the response to my previous AN would be a serious understatement. I apologise for not responding to your comments as yet, it was astonishing to read and take in. Thank you all so much for your support. It has helped quell the creeping doubt that was filling me. 
> 
> I have found the courage to continue, and I hope you all enjoy the crazy ride that is coming! I know I don't always make the most popular of choices with my characters, but this is my story, I am taking ownership of it and will not allow myself to be swayed. Which is what you all have been telling me to do, so thanks, it is sinking in :)
> 
> If you don't like the choices I have made or will make, you are welcome to write your own version. This is fan fiction after all and I cannot stop you from taking the concept and making it your own. Alternatively, you can simply stop reading and find something else up your alley. 
> 
> We are kicking off immediately from the end of the previous chapter and some smut for you :)

* * *

Severus rose from where he had been sitting as Harry gave him a leg massage. Stepping into Harry's space, he slid one arm around the younger man's waist, the other cupping the back of his head. Harry melted as his mouth was plundered. He was completely wrapped in the other man with little choice but to hold on and surrender. He relished in these moments, where all of the affection Severus held for him poured out through his skin.

Eventually, Severus pulled away, smirking wickedly. "Yes, bed I think."

Harry was led to the master suite and suddenly discovered himself stripped bare and laid out on the bed. Watching hungrily, Severus stripped away his clothing. The man was pale, lithe, tall. His skin was similar to Harrys, littered with scars and marks; imperfect but whole. Harry could feel his growing excitement, cock thickening and filling at the sight of his naked husband.

Severus was on him in the next moment, body pressing him down into the mattress, their cocks brushing together. Harry moaned and arched into the contact, feeling one of Severus’ hands grip his hip tightly. The older man littered kisses along his jaw, sucking and biting down his throat. Harry allowed the waves of pleasure to wash over him, by now he had realised that Severus preferred to be in control and while Harry was welcome to participate, he could simply lay back and take what he was given if he wanted.

His brain focused in on the hot mouth trailing down his body, large hands holding his hips down so he couldn’t thrust up. Heat and wetness wrapped around his cock, playing with the head before sliding down. Fingers kneaded and tugged gently at his balls before trailing lower. One began gently petting his entrance; the last few times he had indicated he had reached his limit here, but he suddenly realised it wasn’t anymore. Bearing down a little, Severus’ finger pressed tightly against his entrance, not quite slipping past the guardian muscles, but enough to let Severus know what he wanted.

Harry moaned, “Severus, please, I want your fingers.”

He felt lips press gently against his thigh and a whispered _accio_, and the next moment, the finger caressing him was slick with oil.

“Relax Harry, and just feel.” Severus breathed over his cock and Harry shuddered, allowing his body to fall lax.

Time ceased to mean anything once Severus slipped his mouth over his cock, all he could feel now was _hot_, and _wet_ and _tight_. Without even realising it, the older man eased a finger into his body, working it in and out gently.

It wasn’t until the second one pressed in, when there was an edge of the burn he had been told to expect that he realised what was happening. Moaning loudly, Harry bore down on the fingers plunging deep inside him, his cock still buried deep in Severus’ throat. Everything whited out when Severus crooked his fingers, within seconds, finding that sensitive bundle of nerves, triggering Harry’s pending orgasm. Darkness claimed him before he could do much more than moan _Severus_ quietly.

* * *

Two days later, Harry met with the Project Manager that Hogrod recommended to him at Gringotts. James Selwyn was a middle-aged man dressed in a smart suit with a well-loved briefcase, they shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. In the interim, Harry had finally managed to make it to the Ministry to get his apparition license, and not a moment too soon since he would need to lead the way to the properties they were seeing today.

“Well, Lord Potter, Hogrod told me that you have numerous properties that we need to review and get to a liveable standard. From his indications, some might only need minor updates while others may need significant overhauls.” 

Harry nodded, withdrawing a list. “Hogrod had you sign a confidentiality agreement yes?” Harry waited for the man's nod before going on. “I have put together a list of all the properties I now own, the Peverell properties have been uninhabited for the longest, I figured we would start there.”

Black

| 

Manor

| 

Wiltshire  
  
---|---|---  
  
Forest Cottage

| 

Kent  
  
Beachside House

| 

Lincolnshire  
  
City Town House

| 

Islington  
  
Gaunt

| 

Forest Cottage

| 

Little Hangleton  
  
Peverell

| 

Manor

| 

Wiltshire  
  
Forest Cottage

| 

West Sussex  
  
Beachside House

| 

Norfolk  
  
City Town House

| 

London  
  
Gryffindor

| 

Manor

| 

Kensington  
  
Beachside House

| 

Dorset  
  
City Town House

| 

Mayfair  
  
Slytherin

| 

Manor

| 

Kensington  
  
Forest Cottage

| 

Hampshire  
  
City Town House

| 

Belgravia  
  
Potter

| 

Manor

| 

Knightsbridge  
  
| 

Cottage

| 

Godrics Hollow  
  
He could see Selwyn’s astonishment at the list as he scanned it. The man swallowed heavily before looking up. “That sounds like an excellent plan, Lord Potter.”

Harry grinned and held out his arm. “I have the coordinates and my rings will help lead the way. Shall we?”

Selwyn nodded, grasping his briefcase tightly with one hand and Harry’s arm with the other, the disappeared with a crack, off to start with Peverell Manor.

* * *

The next week passed easily. The couple shared space, reading, studying, having sex and generally relishing in the little intimacies their isolation afforded. Severus spent what time he could experimenting and tinkering with some of his long-term projects. Harry studied hard, working his way through the sixth-year curriculum for Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. He also met up every other day with Selwyn and they slowly reviewed the properties he owned. He also spent considerable time reviewing the investment portfolios for each house, sending numerous letters to Hogrod with instructions on what to sell and what to buy. 

Harry stopped in to visit the Twins, easing their worries that he had been kidnapped, assuring them that he was happy and had foiled Dumbledore’s plans. They shared a laugh over the fury of Ginny and Molly when Dumbledore had had to tell them that Harry was already married. The youngest Weasley had thrown a rather large tantrum and the twins had to leave to avoid being punished for laughing at her misfortune. They were convinced that she was actually pregnant though, much to Harry’s amusement. The girl had made significant headway in sleeping with every available male in Hogwarts, so who could guess who the father was.

On the days when Harry didn’t meet up with Selwyn, Severus and Harry would go to Hogwarts and, while Severus was harvesting the basilisk, Harry was copying books. He had found a spell that, when he had a book that was the same dimensions as the original, it would duplicate the text across. The hardest part was buying a ridiculous quantity of notebooks that were all approximately the same size, sticking them together until he got enough pages and then making sure the magic binding it all together held before transferring the information over. Instead of buying a new trunk, he used his old one, it was enough to transport the books that he copied as he went. His bookcases in his study were filling up nicely.

Once Severus had finished harvesting the beast, it took three intense sessions, he followed Harry into the private chambers and began going through the Potions Laboratory. His greatest discovery was a small cabinet which contained preserved seeds, many of which belonged to long-dead plants. Harry received a very enthusiastic blow job in the library for that. 

Poppy came to visit at Prince Manor to have tea. As promised, Severus and Harry explained everything that had happened since she had been approached during fifth year regarding Harry’s medical records. Severus had no hesitation about bringing the woman into their full confidence, providing what proof they had and explaining their plans for the future. Poppy was only too happy to support them, promising to keep the secret and to work with them. Severus also asked that she assess Harry’s potions work once school resumed so that, when the time came, his grades couldn’t be questioned.

Harry wrote to Hermione and Neville, explaining that he had important news, but that it was not safe to share in writing. He had discussed it with Severus, and they had agreed that, with Dumbledore out of the castle, it would be prudent to bring Hermione and Neville in on the secret so they could help him cover for any odd absences. Hermione wrote back quickly, explaining how worried she had been when he had vanished for two weeks. Neville was happy to hear from him and agreed to meet up on the train to discuss his news.

Harry got an unexpected letter from Sirius. While the man had enjoyed his time hanging out at Hogwarts as Padfoot, then his six months recovering freely from his imprisonment, he had been looking for something to fill his days. McGonagall had decided to retire Binns because the ghost was destroying their ranking in History globally. As such, she asked Sirius if he was willing to take over and revamp the course. His godfather had received the highest NEWT in recorded history for Hogwarts due to his love of the subject and self-study. The Animagus was delighted and immediately informed his rather absent godson.

Sirius commented that he had received an odd letter from the goblins, advising that the Black Lordship had been claimed but it had left out who had claimed it. His godfather had asked when they could catch up, hoping to meet before the semester began.

He was sitting, staring into the fire thinking over the letter he folded and unfolded when Severus walked in.

“Harry?” Severus queried from the chair next to him.

“Sirius wrote.” He replied softly, ignoring his husband’s curled lip. “The goblins notified him that the Black Lordship had been claimed.”

The silence stretched as Severus waited and Harry continued to mull over a thought that just wouldn’t leave him. Eventually, Harry looked to his husband. “I think we should tell Sirius.”

* * *

They met Sirius at a quiet muggle cafe near the Leaky a few days later. Severus was silenced, disillusioned and wrapped in Harry's cloak. Harry was trying desperately not to be nervous as he waited for his godfather to show. Remus had not ever fully come around about what Dumbledore and his relatives had done. He dreaded Sirius doing the same.

"Harry!"

He jerked around at the sound of his name being called. Sirius came striding over and flopped down into the chair across from him. They ordered coffee and chatted as they waited, getting through the usual greetings. Once their coffees arrived, Sirius regaled him with fresh anecdotes of his travels. Unfortunately, with Sirius’ absence, the distance between Harry and Remus had only grown, especially with the added pressure of exams.

Eventually, the man paused and frowned across the table. "Harry, you said there was something you wanted to discuss? Something to do with the Black Lordship?"

Harry swallowed and nodded. "Sirius, I have a bit of a story to tell you. I need you to listen, to not react until I get to the end. Please?" he begged, wide green eyes beseeching.

Sirius frowned harder but consented to listen. So, Harry started at the beginning. He explained about the first Occlumency lesson, how Snape had discovered the abuse he experienced. How they confirmed Dumbledore knew about it all along. He detailed how Snape spent the next six months training him. How Harry received the vision during his History OWL. How Harry went to the ministry on his own, heard the prophecy, and destroyed Voldemort.

He explained how Dumbledore seemed to sweep Harry’s involvement under the rug, sending him back to the Dursleys when it was unnecessary. Harry detailed Ron and Ginny’s odd behaviour throughout the year, how alone he was, how he found company and companionship with Snape. He explained how he tried to reason with Remus, but the man wouldn't hear him.

He sighed and said that Dumbledore had known Sirius wasn't the secret keeper for his parents but had allowed him to be sent to Azkaban anyway. He explained how this summer, he had escaped and had been staying in a hotel until he came into his inheritance. How he met with the twins who warned him about Ginny, how Dumbledore met with him for lunch on his birthday and tried to force him into marrying Ginny with her claims of pregnancy. Harry swore that he had never touched her, they had no relationship, if she was pregnant it wasn't his.

He explained how his instincts had told him to claim his lordships before meeting with Dumbledore, about finding the contract with Ginny. He explained the clauses, how the contract was heinously illegal, but if Harry hadn't known better, if he hadn't been protected by his heir rings, he probably would have signed the document.

Taking a deep breath, Harry explained that the goblins had gone through all the paperwork for his lordships and had found an unfulfilled marriage contract between the Black and Prince families. They had requested the Prince Lord to attend and it had been Snape who walked through the door.

Swallowing heavily, he explained how he had been in love with Snape for over a year, but that they had planned on waiting until after Harry graduated before doing anything about it. But with the looming threat of Dumbledore’s manipulations and the contract with Ginny, with the option of the Black/Prince contract and their existing feelings, Harry and Snape had decided to bond on the spot, protecting him from Dumbledore.

"Alright, what proof have you got?" Sirius asked eventually.

Harry could only gape, after a few beats, Severus stepped forward, resting his invisible hand on his husband's shoulder.

“If you will come with us, we can provide you with whatever evidence you require.”

Sirius started when Severus spoke. “Snape?” he hissed. “Have you been here the whole time?”

“Of course, did you really think I would allow my husband to go alone into a situation where everything could so easily go wrong?” Severus snarked and Harry had to bite back his amusement.

Harry rose and was quietly guided from the shop by his husband, still reeling with the knowledge that Sirius wasn’t dismissing them out of hand. Sirius trailed behind them until they slipped into the nearby alley the couple had arrived in. Severus removed the cloak, ending the concealing charms and extended his hand to Sirius.

“The wards will not let you in without an escort.” He explained and waited as Sirius considered the offered hand. Harry held his breath until Sirius finally reached out and grasped forearms with his husband and the pair disappeared with a crack.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thank you all for your comments, I have been reading them, I just don't have the mental capacity as yet to reply. I am thinking that this weekend I will have some time to respond to everything. 
> 
> Here is a fresh chapter for you all, sorry for the tease ;)
> 
> I will post the final chapter in this part by the end of the week and the first chapter of the next part at the same time, as usual. I am currently reviewing everything I have written for part 7, hopefully I can find some momentum to finish part 8 and this whole story. I hope you all enjoy!

* * *

Harry followed Severus and Sirius, and the next second the three were in their sitting room.

“Welcome to Prince Manor.” Harry smiled at the astonishment in Sirius’ gaze. Their home was unexpected for those who knew Severus at all, but Harry loved it.

“We have everything in my office. Harry, will you make some tea?” Severus asked quietly and Harry bustled off into the kitchen while Severus lead Sirius to his study. Harry knew that they could have asked the house-elf to prepare a tray, but he liked working in the kitchen and realised that Severus wanted a moment alone to speak with Sirius.

Making his way back to the study, he walked in to find Severus sitting quietly flicking through a potions text while Sirius sat at the desk, reading through the papers. Settling the tray on an empty corner of the desk, he could sense that there was no tension in the room. Obviously, something had eased the previous animosity between the pair, for which he was grateful.

Time slipped away as Sirius went through everything they had. Harry drank tea and waited as patiently as he could, eventually fetching his Arithmancy textbook so that he could continue studying.

Sirius sat back with a huff as he tidied their stack of documents. “So your plan is to wait for Harry to graduate, wait for Dumbledore to go too far and then approach the neutral faction, see if the pair of you can get them onside and find a way to oust Dumbledore.”

“That is the general idea, yes. Unfortunately, we cannot make solid plans as yet because we cannot be sure what actions Dumbledore will take. With the dissolution of Slytherin at Hogwarts, the pressure on the dark will only increase over the next year. I anticipate that the dark faction will almost entirely abandon Britain by this time next year. At that point, I expect Dumbledore will begin putting pressure on the neutral faction, which is when we can begin to move.” Severus replied.

“What if I approached them first? Started laying the groundwork now?” Sirius offered. “I know I’m a bit of an oddball politically. I come from a long line of dark witches and wizards, hell my core is dark, but I just don’t trust the magic. I have seen the madness up close. I very publicly defected to the light but was then thrown in Azkaban for no reason and with no recourse.

“I am currently the Heir to my house, but most will assume I am the Lord. Harry, if you allow me to act as your proxy for the next year, I will hold a fair amount of political clout and can protect you from Dumbledore in that aspect. I can align myself neutrally, which I can explain as a compromise between my dark family and my light preferences.

“I know I have been avoiding politics all my life but I am familiar with it all. I could approach Greengrass and begin developing a relationship with them. They will not trust you if you just approach out of the blue in a year, but if the groundwork is already there, then we can begin to push back on Dumbledore almost as soon as he makes a move on the Neutral.”

Harry had to suppress the urge to laugh. Severus was completely dumbfounded by the reasonable argument Sirius had just posited. His godfather gave a wolfish grin, seeming to realise what had happened.

“Thank you, Sirius, that would be wonderful. Just be careful ok?” Harry finally replied, amusement lacing his voice.

Severus finally snapped out of his stupor and cut a glare at Harry. “Yes, thank you, Black. That would be most helpful.”

“Perhaps I can also give you Lordship lessons, Harry? I might be a little rusty, I will have to brush up on a few things while I’m at it, but no reason why we can’t do that together.”

They had a plan, now it was just a matter of seeing it through.

* * *

Severus received an owl at breakfast the next day requesting he present himself at Hogwarts at 2 pm that day. He was deeply offended at being treated like a recalcitrant child. Throwing down the letter, he sneered into his morning coffee.

"Rude letter?" Harry asked softly, Severus jerked his head up having momentarily forgotten he had company.

"Minerva has told me to be at Hogwarts today at 2 to discuss my continued presence at Hogwarts." He could feel his mouth twisting in an ugly sneer.

"Ah." Harry said intelligently. Severus resisted the urge to poke his tongue out petulantly.

"No doubt she wants to discuss my suitability at remaining a teacher. I am sure she will be pleased to discover that I have no intention of staying after this school year has been completed." He grumbled into his mug. 

Severus wasn't sure why the request grated so; he knew it had been coming after the staff meeting. There was something about the tone of it that grated on him. But that was the thing wrong with everything since the defeat of Riddle. Excepting Harry, the tone of the wizarding world was off. McGonagall and Dumbledore were off, their agenda was off, the laws he was passing were off. Everything that had been happening set his teeth on edge.

"Do you mind if I come with you to Hogwarts? I picked up a fresh batch of notebooks so want to copy more from the library." 

Severus consented, he couldn't bring himself to deny such a simple thing to his husband.

Harry and Severus gathered their things and apparated to Hogsmeade, Harry already wrapped in his cloak. They split in the entrance hall of Hogwarts, Harry diving into an alcove and disappearing while Severus braced himself for the walk to the Headmasters tower. As he paced the familiar halls, he wrapped layers of Occlumency shields over his mind. 

Once, when he was younger, Minerva didn't seem to hold such disdain for him. While his talents lay more in Potions, Defence and the spell creation aspect of Charms, he had been a diligent Transfiguration student. She had clearly preferred her lions over one isolated snake, but she had never actively disliked him.

In his early years as a professor, she seemed to pity him in his misery, but after the initial defeat of Riddle, she had allowed a distance to grow between them that he had never tried to bridge.

Now, with Riddle defeated for good, Dumbledore as Minister and her as the Head of Hogwarts, her attitude had shifted firmly from apathy to disdain. He was surprised at how bothered he was by the stoic woman's attitude. Severus had always appreciated her-generally-fair hand and no-nonsense demeanour. He had always respected the way she could command a class and mediate between her peers, even if she had a growing blind spot when it came to her house.

The gargoyle protecting the entryway glared at him before begrudgingly stepping aside. Apparently, the statue was able to pick up on its masters' attitude. Stepping onto the moving staircase, he knocked at the door at the top when he reached it. A curt 'enter' was the only invitation received. 

The office had changed drastically in the year that Minerva had been running the school. No longer were there tables covered in knick-knacks and whirly-jigs. Instead, the space was practical and comfortable with little personality injected. It was functional and simple at best. An uncomfortable looking chair sat before the desk which did not invite the seated to stay or offer confidences.

Minerva was behind her desk, writing away on a stack of parchment. She gestured, without looking up, for him to sit in the chair. A minute slid by as she finished her sentence and signed off with a flourish before she looked at him with a rather blank expression. He suppressed his growing anger at her treatment of him.

"Thank you for coming today on such short notice. There is much to do before the commencement of the school year and very little time in which to do it."

"Of course." Severus agreed and waited for her to continue.

"I wanted to discuss with you two matters, first and foremost is your lack of teaching qualification. Secondary would be your acceptance of an Apprentice."

"Permit me to cut short this conversation," Severus interjected before she could continue. Her mouth tightened in irritation. "I have no intention of remaining at Hogwarts after this year. I have no intention of taking on either an Apprentice or obtaining a teaching qualification. I would appreciate being able to remain this final year to watch over the Slytherin students as they transition into their new houses and it will also provide you with a year to locate and hire a more qualified person to be your Potion Master."

He watched as she considered his words, debating the merits of allowing him to remain another year over summarily dismissing him and having to find a willing and competent replacement before the start of term, which was only a week away at this point. He knew he had won when her eyes strayed to the veritable mountain of paperwork stacked on her desk. 

"Very well, but when I find your replacement, you will cooperate fully with bringing them up to speed on your curriculum and classes." Her eyes were hard, verging on a glare.

"Of course. If that is all, I will leave you to your paperwork."

Severus rose and waited for her agreement. She barely acknowledged him, pulling the next document in front of herself as she waved at the door. Her rudeness astonished him, and he left as briskly as he could so as to resist the urge to curse the blasted cat.

* * *

With Severus no longer being a Head of House, he was not required to assist with the personality profiling, so he had no input on where his snakes were sent. He hoped that Minerva, Filius, Remus, Pomona, and Aurora would be kind to the students but somehow, he doubted it.

He was also not required to return to the school any more than a day before the start of classes. Poppy had delivered a list of Potions that they needed for the hospital wing at the start of the summer and he had finished them all well before Harry’s birthday. At least she forced the budget to allow him to be paid for the efforts. With the reduction in his salary from being Head of House, it was no longer required in his contract to provide the potions and as such, the school had to pay him for his work. At the end of the day, he made a tidy profit from what Poppy needed, but still, he would have preferred Slytherin to remain a house, with him at its head.

He was astonished to realise he had not heard from Dumbledore since delivering the batch of Amortentia. On one hand he was happy to not have to pay lip service to the megalomaniac. On the other, he was worried about who was preparing potions for the mad old man and what they were. He doubted that Dumbledore had suddenly stopped using potions to control people, perhaps he had just realised that Severus was at the end of his use and had found someone else.

He and Harry had discussed that morning, Severus’ departure for Hogwarts. Harry would floo to the platform and find a compartment to wait for Hermione and Neville. They would have to spend the night apart, but Severus had reminded his quietly sad husband that they had best get used to it. It would be increasingly difficult for them to spend time together as the year wore on.

* * *

It was about a week before they were due to return to Hogwarts when Harry knew he was ready. They had spent many delicious hours exploring each other and now, now he wanted to know how it felt to be filled by his husband.

They had retired to bed and once again, Severus was ravenously sucking him down. The man seemed to thoroughly enjoy taking Harry apart, relishing in the sounds of his moans and broken cries. Harry barely understood it but enjoyed the attention and affection nevertheless.

Severus was easing the second finger into him, cock nudging the back of his throat, when Harry grabbed his knees, tugging them towards his chest.

“Please Severus, I need you.” He moaned.

The mouth on his cock stopped, sliding off, and the fingers inside him stilled. Harry’s eyes snapped open and he looked down to see Severus watching him cautiously. Harry flushed and dropped his knees. Apparently, this was not what Severus wanted. He tried to scoot away, the fingers slipping free but the hand on his hip prevented his retreat.

“Harry.” Severus was firm and he froze. “Are you sure?”

His temper flared a little and he glared. “Have I ever hesitated before to tell you what I wanted, especially in the bedroom. At what point have I failed to tell you if you reach my limit.”

The older man looked chastened. Harry snorted, hurt still flaring in his chest. Ignoring the hand on his hip, he rolled off the bed, walking towards the bathroom.

“Where are you going?” He could hear the confusion in the other man's voice.

Without pausing, Harry opened the door. “You ruined the moment. I’m going to have a shower.”

He heard a pained noise and a body whumping onto the bed. Leaving the door open a crack, Harry ran himself a hot shower, stepping in and allowing the water to wash away the vestiges of irritation.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, the final chapter of this part. I give you all something you have been waiting for ;)
> 
> I'll post the first chapter of the next part tomorrow, and spend some time this weekend tackling the massive amount of comments I have. I will probably moderate the comments on the next part though.
> 
> Thanks for sticking with me guys. I know some of the stuff I tackle isn't the nicest, and it's not going to get better in the next part, but I never promised a happy story...

* * *

A few minutes of hot water pattering on his skin went by before Harry felt a body press against his back, arms around his waist.

“You are right, I should have trusted that you know yourself.” Severus’ words slid over the shell of his ear.

“I also shouldn’t have been so bothered that you wanted to check before my first time.” Harry replied quietly, tangling their fingers together.

Without a word, Harry reached out, gathering up the loofa and some soap. With great care, he began washing the other man. Arms, chest, back, and thighs. Harry ignored the growing erection as he dropped to his knees to wash Severus’ calves. At some point, Severus had leaned back against the shower wall as Harry washed him, watching with half-lidded eyes.

With gentle nudges and tugs, and a little wandless magic, Harry positioned the man until he was leaning under the showerhead, water cascading warmly down his body. Leaning forward, he wrapped a hand around the thick, flushed cock before him and began laving the tip. Severus’ moan echoed through the tiled space. Fighting down a grin, Harry set to, coating every inch in saliva, tasting everything he could. He sucked and licked, taking the head in his mouth, he ever so gently ran the edge of his teeth along the ridge before soothing it with his tongue.

Getting comfortable, he sank down, sucking deep and strong on the cock filling his mouth and nudging at the back of his throat. He set up a steady rhythm until Severus was moaning loudly, his hips giving little jerking motions as the other man resisted the impetus to fuck his mouth. Harry felt balls contract, and the next moment, the cock in his mouth pulsed, pouring hot come down his throat.

Swallowing repeatedly, he cleaned Severus before allowing him to slip free and rising. While the other man recovered, Harry briskly washed, repositioning the showerhead to rinse the suds away. The lack of warmth brought Severus back to reality harshly and he glared. Harry only gave him a cheeky grin before retreating to dry off and crawl into bed. Severus followed, sliding into bed behind him.

Harry pretended to ignore the hand that crept over his hip, the fingertips that reached out to trail over his aching erection. Slowly, the hand wrapped around his cock and began leisurely stroking him. He couldn’t suppress the moan that escaped, rocking into the movement. They continued on for a little while before Severus breathed over his ear.

“On your knees.”

Harry shuddered, twisting and rolling until his hips were in the air, knees splayed wide, arms tucked under his head and chest pressed into the bed. He felt Severus settle behind him, the duvet falling away. Breath murmured over his exposed arse and he felt the tingle of a deep clean. The next second, a thick wet muscle traced over his entrance and a loud moan wrenched itself from his throat.

Within seconds he was a whimpering mess. There was something delicious and perfect about the feel of Severus’ mouth on him; licking, kissing, probing. He relaxed into the treatment, rocking into the touch. Soon enough he was babbling and begging for more. He felt a finger slip in alongside the tongue that was still playing with his loosened rim.

Harry pressed back, encouraging the finger to slide deeper inside himself. Once it slipped easily out of his passage, he felt a second press in, pushing past his rim and easing him open further. He breathed through the sting, marvelling at the feel of the fingers twisting and plunging. Eventually a third was added, along with a pool of oil that was dribbled inside him. He could feel trickles running out and down his perineum, slicking his balls and dripping along his cock.

He whined when the fingers retreated and large hands grasped his hips, tipping him over onto his back and sliding a pillow under his arse. Harry watched as Severus slicked himself, pressing the head to his entrance and beginning to ease in. For a moment, Harry panicked, it wasn’t going to fit. Then his body surrendered, and the head popped in. Gently rocking, Severus worked his way in, when he nudged past Harry’s prostate, the younger man arched, jerking into the movement.

Harry was overwhelmed, the sense of being overfull, stretched to the limit, complete, whole for the first time, washed over him. He had no idea what to expect, but this was more than he could have imagined. Having Severus seated deeply inside himself, feeling their connection, he realised at that moment that they would be ok. In that second, he trusted their relationship completely. As the man hovering over him tenderly kissed him, made love to him, Harry finally allowed himself to admit the complete, unvarnished truth.

He was completely, madly in love with Severus Snape.

Not only that, but he was bonded to the man, no one would ever be able to drive them apart.

Tears leaked from the corners of his eyes as his body was consumed with passion and love. He had found home, after so long desperately wishing to belong, now he did. He could feel a stupid smile light his face as he arched into Severus, mind overwhelmed with the sensation of the older man’s cock filling him over and over and over again.

He tangled one hand with Severus’, their fingers entwined tightly. The other slid into fine dark hair, pulling the man down into a tender kiss. He gasped at the feeling of his cock being crushed between them, slick tongue taking advantage to plunder him further.

Harry was consumed whole, completely taken over. He could feel his orgasm building, spiralling, tightening, until it crested, and he came, coating their chests in his seed. Severus’s thrusts became erratic as his channel tightened, dark eyes rolling back as he jerked again and came.

The older man tipped to the side, wrapping himself around Harry with little hesitation. Harry smiled softly, waving his hand to clean them and summoning the duvet to keep them warm before allowing sleep to drift in.

* * *

Severus felt something wrench in his chest as he floo’d to Hogsmeade; the lost expression on Harry’s face as he left cutting him to the quick. He used the time to walk from the Three Broomsticks to Hogwarts to reinforce his Occlumency shields, tucking away his feelings for his husband, the memories of their time together; donning once more his persona of Potions Master.

He made his way to his quarters and was astonished to discover they were smaller than before. All of his things were still there, neatly stacked on a table that hadn’t been there before. The kitchenette was gone, as was his study. Instead, he had a study nook with a desk and chair. His bookcases lined the walls with books stacked neatly where they didn’t fit. The duelling room was completely gone, a crate tucked in one corner had all of the equipment shrunken down inside. Striding through, he found his bedroom smaller and the bathroom was less opulent.

Sinking onto his bed he tried to cope with the swirl of emotions storming through him. With him no longer being the Head of House, it made sense that his quarters would be smaller, that he wouldn’t have as much in the way of privileges, but he felt violated. This had been his home until this summer when Prince Manor had started to feel like where he belonged. He knew that Minerva or Filius wouldn’t have done this themselves, instead, arranging for an elf to move his things and asking Hogwarts to make the necessary changes.

Shaking himself from his stupor, he pushed aside his feelings, once more looking around. Well, things couldn’t remain like this, the place was crowded and uncomfortable now. He would need to pack up some things and take them home.

Plucking his luggage from his pocket, he restored it to its correct size and began sorting through, keeping only the necessities for his position as Potions Master of the school and little else. Placing everything else back in the suitcases, he moved into the lounge room to begin the same process, sorting and tidying. He would ensure that he only adhered to the requirements of his contract. He would not be returning next year to teach again, this would be his last year here, so there was no longer any need for him to remain in anyone’s good graces.

Eventually, he finished. The sofa had been shrunken to a two-seater instead of the three it was before, there was only one side table between the two wingback chairs. The dining table was left to the side of the room with two chairs tucked under it. All of the things that had been in the kitchen were now stowed, though he had kept his favourite pot, two cups and the tea bags he and Harry preferred in a small box.

He now only had potions texts in the bookcases, of which there were only two instead of the five crammed into the room. The stacks of books had been shrunken and put into one of his suitcases. He had gone through all of the paperwork that had once been in his office discarding what he could. Of the current students’ records, he sorted them by year so that he could provide records to their new Heads of House while the remainder was all shrunken and put in a crate to be given to the Headmistress.

The furniture in his bedroom had all been shrunken a little to make it fit better into the space. His potions robes required their own cupboard and he was irritated to realise that he only had the one to fit his robes. Everything else had to fit into a dresser; grumbling to himself over having to fold his dress shirts and slacks instead of being able to hang them. There wasn’t much he could do with the bathroom so left it as is.

With so many things jammed into his suitcases and the wizard space already stretched to its limit, he didn’t want to risk trying to shrink them further. With an exasperated huff, he spelled the crate and four suitcases to float along behind him and made his way out of the castle once more.

On his way out, he met Minerva who was in the Entrance Hall speaking to Remus.

“Severus! You are supposed to be coming back, not leaving.” She admonished.

“With the reduced quarters, I must remove some of my things. I have already unpacked and am now removing the excess to take home.” He replied stiffly.

He was hurt to see a flash of satisfaction in her eyes as his discomfort.

“If you will excuse me.” He cut in before she could say anything, striding off towards the ward line. Once there, he gathered everything together as best he could and apparated to his sitting room at Prince Manor.

He sighed when he spotted a wide-eyed Harry curled up on the couch. The young man had obviously been sulking in his absence.

“Severus!” He scrambled up, rushing over to help take some of the cases. “What happened? Are you not going back?” An edge of panic began to creep in, and Severus had to reach out and cup Harry’s face in his hands before the younger man would stop.

“Harry, everything is fine.” He waited for the young man to exhale heavily before continuing. “With my loss of Head position, my quarters have been shrunk. Apparently, I kept a lot of things at Hogwarts.” Gesturing to the crate and trunks. “These are my things that no longer fit.”

He watched as indignation filled Harry’s eyes, soothing the hurt in his heart.

“It’s not right what they are doing! Just because Riddle went dark doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with Slytherin! Look at Pettigrew! He was a snivelling coward and a Gryffindor! I can’t stand what they are doing! It’s criminal.”

Severus smirked as the youth ranted, stalking around the room in his indignation. “Harry, it’s ok, it’s only for another year, then we can both leave Hogwarts and not return. I never wanted to teach and am only staying on to be closer to you.” He caught up the other man in his arms, relishing in the surprise.

“Really?” Harry breathed and Severus smirked.

“Why else would I go back? I certainly don’t go for the intellectual discourse that’s for sure.” His arms tightened automatically as the younger man burrowed into his embrace.


End file.
